In Our World: Pengotters: The Early Months
by matthewmspace
Summary: This is a continuation of Pengotter Pregnancy. It tells the story of the 9 month gap between that story and In Our World: Book 3. More specifically, about the Pengotters growing up to where they were at the start of Book 3. Oh, and [spoiler] as well.
1. Chapter 1 - Food And Answers

Welcome to _Pengotters: The Early Months_! First of all, if you haven't read _In Our World_ Books 1-3 or _Pengotter Pregnancy_, you need to read all those stories first, otherwise this will literally make no sense.

I know that's a lot to read, but this story will really make no sense without all of that, especially with _Pengotter Pregnancy_ unread. So this story starts mere hours after _Pengotter Pregnancy_ ended (in the timeline). So welcome and let's get reading!

**CHAPTER 1 – Food and Answers**

(P staying with Marlene) I had given birth maybe a few hours ago, but still couldn't believe it. Skipper and I had actually managed to have our own children. Not only that, but they looked completely different from each other. Annabelle had the appearance of an Otter, while Samuel had the appearance of a Penguin.

It made me so glad to know that our children would not be going feral ever, but that they would be able to live here without attracting too much attention. Since our children looked like a normal Penguin and Otter, there was no risk that a lab would use them as a science experiment.

Suddenly, from over in their cribs, both of them started to cry. My motherly instincts immediately kicked in and I walked over to them. "Shh, it's alright. Mommy's here. What would you like? Would you like something to eat?" I asked. Both of their faces lit up and they stopped crying when I mentioned food.

Skipper dropped down, from above, where he had been fooling the guests that nothing had happened today. "Hi Skipper," I said. "Hello honey. What are you up to?" Skipper asked. "Actually, I was about to feed our children," I said.

"Oh. Well, I'll go back up and leave you to that," Skipper said. "You really think I need privacy after what we've been through today?" I asked, curious. "Well, maybe. I'm still trying to fully understand what our lives will be like, now that we have children," Skipper said.

"Me too. Hopefully we'll learn fast," I said happily. We had a quick kiss before Skipper went back up and out the hatch, closing it. "Now how am I supposed to feed you?" I asked the children. They just looked at me in response, waiting for some kind of food.

Suddenly, another motherly instinct kicked in and I knew immediately what to do. I carefully picked up both Annabelle and Samuel and lay down on the table. I placed them on top of me. Let's just say I started producing food. Annabelle was happily eating away, while Samuel just looked at me with the cutest confused face I had ever seen.

"Samuel, do you see what your sister is doing? Try doing the same thing as your sister," I said to him. He looked at me confused for a moment, but then probably understood what I said, as he started copying Annabelle.

Suddenly, he bit my, well, food-making area. "Ouch," I said. He stopped and looked at me, somehow knowing he had bit me. Annabelle stopped eating, too, but actually a moment later. She looked like she was full, as she had a cute smile on her adorable little face.

"Skipper, could you come down here?" I asked. Thanks to his great hearing, he heard me through the hatch and came down. "What is it Marlene? What's the trouble?" he asked. "Well, I was feeding Annabelle and tried to feed Samuel, too, but I don't think it worked," I said. "What do you mean?" Skipper asked.

"Well, he tried to copy Annabelle, but in the process, bit me a bit. It didn't hurt, but I don't think I can feed him like this," I said. "So how are we supposed to feed him?" Skipper asked.

"I think that's your job. Samuel is more Penguin than Otter. After all, Penguins don't usually eat directly from their mothers," I said. "I think I see what you mean," Skipper said. "Do you think we should try and bottle it?" I asked. "Maybe. Um, I'll pass you a bottle, but I still won't watch," Skipper said.

Skipper handed me a bottle and then turned away, giving me privacy. Let's just say I had figured out how to get food out of me and into the bottle. After a few minutes, I figured that we probably had enough.

"I'm done Skipper. Let's try it this way," I said. Skipper turned around and placed Annabelle in her crib while I sat up. I took Samuel from Skipper and showed him the bottle. Samuel again looked confused, but seemed to understand what we meant. He tried to eat from the bottle, but didn't seem to like what he was receiving.

"Now what Skipper?" I asked. "I guess I'll have to feed him the Penguin way," Skipper said. "What is that?" I asked, curious. "Well, I'll have to chew a fish for him," Skipper said. "Oh. I'll hold Samuel for you while you do that," I said. Skipper went through the motion and as he was doing so, Samuel seemed to like the food he was getting for the first time.

After Samuel seemed like he was done, he closed his beak. "I guess we'll each have to feed each child differently," I said, while placing Samuel into his crib. "You can say that again," Skipper agreed.

"I do wonder what their DNA is like. Obviously, more Penguin DNA wound up in Samuel, while more Otter DNA wound up in Annabelle," I said. "Well, I'm sure the DNA analyzer will be done in a few hours," Skipper said. (P to a few hours later)

The zoo was finally closed, meaning both Skipper and I could both finally spend all the time with our children that we wanted to. After feeding them dinner, we started to play with them and they with us. Kowalski was standing from a distance, taking notes on how our children were interacting with each other and us.

For a reason Skipper and I still didn't understand why, Annabelle seemed to be wanting to play with me more and Samuel wanted to play with Skipper more. But Annabelle and Samuel wanted to play with each other equally. Suddenly, we all heard the DNA analyzer beep with its results.

We put Annabelle and Samuel in their cribs, which Rico had given wheels and a brake to. We wheeled them into the lab carefully to find out the results. "So Kowalski, what does the DNA of our children say about them?" I asked him. "Well, first of all, it doesn't say why Annabelle and Samuel are actually possible. I guess that will remain a mystery, just like how Matthew is a Penguin here, but a human in his world," Kowalski said.

Skipper and I chuckled. "Well, that's certainly more fun that actually knowing why, other than that substance from the lab," Skipper said. We all laughed and Annabelle and Samuel tried to copy us, giggling. That sweet sound brought a smile to all of our faces. "What else Kowalski?" Skipper asked.

"Well, it seems for female Pengotters, using the term we made, the genes for appearing like an Otter are more dominant than looking like a Penguin. Likewise, for male Pengotters, the genes for appearing like a Penguin are more dominant," Kowalski explained. "Well, that explains why Annabelle looks like me, but Samuel looks like Skipper," I said. "Do you have anymore questions?" Kowalski asked. Skipper and I both tried to think of some.

"Is there a reason why I can feed Annabelle, but I can't feed Samuel?" I asked. "Well, your children's DNA and feeding patterns seem to indicate that your children feed from you two like normal Otters and Penguins. That's why Annabelle can be fed by you, but why Samuel has to be fed from Skipper," Kowalski answered.

"How long until they can eat solid food?" Skipper asked. "I have no idea, since they are a crossbreed. But normally Otters start to eat solid food after about 14 weeks, so in a little over three months, possibly. * But technically since Penguins eat semi-solid food from the first day, it would be any number of weeks or months less. But it probably won't be less than a month and a half or so," Kowalski answered.

"Would they stay the same appearance like we do in the other world?" I asked. "Their DNA isn't telling me that, I'm sorry. But seeing as we all stay the same, I'm sure they would," Kowalski answered. **

"Thank goodness for that, if it's true," Skipper said. "I agree. I would love to know what the fans would think of our children," I said. "We're still not going there until they are old enough to understand what it all means and are able to travel," Skipper said. "Agreed," I said.

"Kowalski, obviously everyone will want to come see the children, now that they probably know they are born. When will it be safe for Samuel and Annabelle to have visitors?" I asked.

"Well, I'll have to procure vaccines against diseases for both Penguins and Otters for them, just to be on the safe side. If the Zoo doesn't have any, I'll need to order some. But I would say if the Zoo does have vaccines, I think that you should wait a month before allowing visitors, to allow the children to get used to the world," Kowalski answered.

"I think that sounds like a good idea. But we should wait until they are at least a week old until they get their vaccinations. After all, they were only born this morning and have had less than a day being outside of me," I said. "I shall follow your instructions. Do you have anymore questions?" Kowalski asked.

"I think right now I'm lacking more," Skipper said. "I think I've got another one, Kowalski. When will they be able to speak?" I asked. "Well, I would say in around two or three months. Maybe sooner or maybe later," Kowalski explained.

"Would everyone in the other world be able to understand them or would they sound like animals from there?" Skipper asked. "Well, unlike us, there are no counterpart humans for them there. But they probably would be able to be understood," Kowalski answered. *** "Thank you Kowalski," Skipper and I said. "It's no trouble," he replied.

With that, we all left the lab and played with the kids some more. They were so adorable. While we were doing so, Rico made two new bunks for our children for when they were old enough. Of course, I also got my own bunk, which we were all confused by its nonexistence from before now.

Skipper made the guys go and fetch my things, which would have to be here until I could take Annabelle back to my habitat. After a few more hours, the kids were starting to drift off to sleep, so Skipper and I put them to bed. Feeling tired ourselves, especially me, we all went to our bunks as well. We quickly fell asleep. I dreamt of the future, and Skipper probably did as well.

That's it for the first chapter. Hmm, those genes sure played a good factor into their appearance, feeding patterns, and playing patterns. Please rate and review this first new chapter. Time for two quick notes.

* Thanks again to Wikipedia for the information about Asian otters.

** And, as revealed in Book 3, the kids do have the same appearance in our world.

*** Also revealed in Book 3, everyone can understand the kids in our world, as they can of everyone else.


	2. Chapter 2 - Meet And Speak

Welcome to chapter 2! My usual symbol rules apply, of course. So let's see what happened in those next 9 months.

**CHAPTER 2 – Meet And Speak**

(P staying with Marlene and moving a month forward)

The last month had been so exciting! Our children were growing like weeds! They were still absolutely adorable. Once the news had gotten out that our children had arrived, everyone had been desperately asking to meet them. Of course, we followed what Kowalski had said and denied everyone access.

Sometimes we even had to lock down the HQ to keep some of them out. We also had blacked out the windows in the HQ, to prevent anyone from getting an early peek before anyone else.

Unfortunately, Alice gradually began to get suspicious of why I apparently hadn't come out of my cave in months, so I began to do so again two weeks after having the kids and she eventually gave up on wondering why I had been absent. I performed to the best of my ability, since I was still recovering and feeding Annabelle.

We had given the kids their vaccines a week after they were born and luckily nothing went wrong. They actually seemed to act happier as we were spending more time with them. They kept doing cute things, like giggling and rolling around during playtime. Annabelle had actually started learning to crawl last week, with Samuel also learning just a day later. With them crawling, it was starting to get hard to keep track of them, even though they remained safe in the HQ.

"They're so cute, aren't they Skipper?" I asked him, while the children were sleeping. "They sure are Marlene. They seem pretty smart too. They are now just a month old and are already crawling. They sure beat Kowalski's estimates that they wouldn't begin to do so until they were two months old," Skipper said.

"They must have inherited that quick thinking from both of us. I wonder how they'll do when we train them in a few months, after they are truly adjusted," I said. "Like you did your first time, I'm sure they'll do great," Skipper said. "I did have a great teacher," I said, kissing him.

"What are we going to do about everyone who wants to see them though? I don't think we'll be able to keep them out much longer," I said. "Well, Kowalski temporarily took over for me after the kids were born and scheduled a meeting for tonight actually," Skipper explained.

"Ah, so you want to bring them in at the end as a surprise?" I asked, knowingly. "You could see through that right away, couldn't you?" Skipper asked. I laughed. "Yes. But I was actually thinking the same thing. It certainly would be fun. We'll need to make a stroller though," I said. "Let's get right on that," Skipper said.

We both spent the next few hours building a double stroller for the kids to ride in. Before we placed them in it when it was finished, we first put a cinderblock in, making sure it was stable and could handle the weight, since a cinderblock weighs more than the kids combined, for now. It worked perfectly. We removed the cinderblock and cleaned the stroller up, removing every speck of debris from construction and the cinderblock.

(P to that night in the Zoovenir ship) "And that wraps up tonight's meeting. Now if there are no further questions, we should all head back to our habitats," Kowalski said. Suddenly Becky and Stacy raised their hands. "Yes?" Kowalski asked them. "When will we be able to see Skipper and Marlene's children? It's been a month since they were born," Becky said. "Yeah, every time any of us tries to enter your habitat, you always lock it down," Stacey added.

"As much as I would like to tell you when, that decision is up to Skipper and Marlene, not myself. I think they're just trying to make sure the kids are ready to meet you all. After all, they are still only a month old. I know they seem to you all to be overprotective, but it's all for the best, as they keep telling me," Kowalski explained.

"Have they even been outside since they were brought back to your habitat? I started seeing Marlene again two weeks ago, but without any children," Stacey said, "Yes, they have," Kowalski answered.

"But both Marlene and Skipper have been seen outside, at varying times, both without any children," Becky said. "I'd like to tell you why, but Skipper and Marlene have both said that is classified," Kowalski said. * Everyone groaned, knowing that as long as the information was classified, they would probably never know.

(P to outside the shop and to Marlene)

"Are you ready to show our children to everyone?" I asked Skipper. "Yes, I believe it's time as well Marlene," Skipper said. "Well, are you two ready?" I asked Annabelle and Samuel. They simply looked at us with happy little faces. "They look like they're ready Skipper," I said. "Well, let's have some fun, shall we?" Skipper said. We moved the stroller away from the door a bit, before opening it.

"Hi. Are we late?" I asked, with Skipper and I poking our heads through the door. "We were just taking final questions," Kowalski answered. "Yes. We all want to know one thing: When will we be able to meet the children?" Becky asked. All eyes were fixed upon us.

"Funny you should mention that," Skipper said. I walked over to where we had put the stroller and rolled it inside. At the sight of our children, everyone Awwed. Skipper and I were both beaming. "Now before you all come at the same time, can we please have an orderly line?" I asked.

Everyone followed my orders, with some trying to whisper _Wow, they sound even more like each other lately_. Since Skipper had trained me last year, I actually was able to pick those up without them knowing. It felt really good to hear those nice comments, since they were absolutely true.

As friend after friend came by, they congratulated us and said how cute the children were. They also said that the children looked just like us. As we finished, something looked like it was happening to both Annabelle and Samuel. They were both trying to move their lips and beak and were actually trying to make words!

Both Skipper and I stood guard around the twins, making sure no one would interrupt them while they tried to speak. "Mommy," Annabelle said in the cutest little voice I had ever heard. Samuel also said right after she finished, "Daddy," also in the cutest voice. "That's right children, we're your Mommy and Daddy," I said to them. They giggled in that cute little laugh again. Everyone was amazed at how fast our children had learned to speak and congratulated us once again.

With that, we all went to our habitats. On the way back, the twins kept saying "Mommy" and "Daddy" over and over, trying to learn language. It kept bringing tears of joy to Skipper and I's faces every single time. Once we got back to the HQ, though, they fell asleep as Skipper and I slowly rocked them back and forth. We placed them in the cribs.

"They really are fast learners. 1 month old and they've already learned to crawl and speak," I whispered quietly. "They really beat out Kowalski's estimates with speaking. He claimed they wouldn't speak until they were three months old," Skipper whispered. "Pengotters. They have the best traits of both of our species," I whispered. "I wouldn't have it any other way Marlene," Skipper said to me. We kissed in a full embrace and then climbed into our bunks, going to sleep ourselves.

Wow. Pengotters are really smart. Please rate and review this chapter. New one coming soon! Time for one quick note.

* They've been outside with no one noticing via the Stopwatch, of course.


	3. Chapter 3 - First Steps

Welcome to chapter three! My symbol rules, as always, apply here. We are moving one month forward in time. Let's get to the story.

**CHAPTER 3 – First Steps**

(P staying with Marlene) "Aw, look how cute the children are," I said to Skipper. It was just us and the children in the HQ at the moment. The guys were out running a snack mission. "They're absolutely adorable Marlene," Skipper agreed with me.

The children were currently sleeping in their cribs, snuggled in under their blankets. They were growing big. Soon they would move from the cribs to their bunks. They just needed to start walking first. They were talking evermore, always trying to understand new words.

"I'm glad I've been done feeding Annabelle for a few weeks now," I said to Skipper happily, while also blushing a deep red. Skipper laughed. "As I am glad to be done feeding Samuel as well," Skipper said.

"It felt so weird to do that, though. I can't even describe what it felt like to do that. Annabelle just, well, you know, fed from me," I said, deeply blushing again. "You did that very well Marlene. She's growing at a perfect rate. She's just as beautiful as you are," Skipper said to me. I gave him a kiss, so much in love.

"Mommy and Daddy kissy," Annabelle's voice suddenly said. We looked back at the children and both of them were up. "I guess our kiss woke them up," Skipper said, making us laugh and the children giggle.

"Yes, Annabelle, that's because Mommy and Daddy love each other," I said happily to her, before Skipper and I shared another kiss. We picked up the children and sat them down next to us on the floor.

"Skipper, do you want to try to teach them to walk?" I asked him. "Of course Marlene," he said happily. He took both Samuel and Annabelle from me and went to a very short distance away, at least for us.

Both of the children eagerly tried to squirm their way out of Skipper's arms to get back to me, wanting to try to walk. We shared a laugh at the sight of our children being eager to learn something new.

"Walking?" Samuel asked us both, after he and Annabelle realized they weren't going anywhere for the moment. "Yes, Samuel, we're going try to teach you how to walk again," Skipper said happily to him. "Yay!" the children exclaimed happily.

Skipper sat them both down gently on the floor, so they could move again. Both of them immediately started to crawl their way back over to me. But suddenly, they both tried to rise. But their legs wobbled as they tried to stand and then fell back down. But thanks to Skipper and I's fast reflexes, they didn't touch the ground.

"Walking hard," Annabelle said to Skipper and I sadly. "It is sweetie. But I know you'll be walking soon," I said happily to her, trying to cheer her up. She smiled at me with her beautiful little face and Samuel did the same. We all shared a glorious family hug.

"Now children, let's try again," I said to them. Skipper took them both a few feet away, so they could try again. But we moved closer to the cribs, wondering if Samuel and Annabelle would consider using them as leverage.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Both of them continued to try and rise up to two feet, but almost fell onto the floor a few times. We kept giving them encouragement, knowing they would do it.

Both of them began to rub their eyes, getting tired again. "Do you want to go to sleep children?" I asked them. "One more," Samuel said to us. Annabelle nodded, while also yawning.

"Ok, you two. One last try and we'll put you back into your cribs," Skipper said to them. He took them a few feet away again, just like for the other times we tried. The children began to crawl back towards me.

I was hoping they would get it down. Skipper and I both knew they could do it. They were our children. If they could exist in the first place, they could do anything that they put their minds to.

Both of them were halfway when Annabelle suddenly started to push up with her front paws. She was quivering, looking like she was about to collapse. But suddenly, she rose. She wobbled for a moment, getting used to walking on two paws instead of four.

Suddenly, Samuel did the same! He used his front flippers in order to get himself up as well. He quivered and nearly fell, but caught himself. He tried again and rose! He also wobbled, getting used to waddling.

And then both of them started slowly walking and waddling over to me. Both Skipper and I's faces were filled with absolute joy and excitement. Our children were taking their first steps!

And then, after a few tense moments, they made it over to me! They fell straight into the hug I had waiting for them. Skipper then silently walked over as well and we all shared a hug.

"Walking good?" Annabelle asked us. "Yes, Annabelle, you walked perfectly," I answered her. "Me too?" Samuel asked us. "You were perfect Samuel," Skipper answered him. They cheered in celebration of finally being able to walk.

And then, both of them fell asleep in our arms. They tried to keep their eyes open and be awake, but they kept opening and shutting. Finally, they closed their eyes and began to softly breathe in slumber.

Skipper and I carefully picked them up and placed them into their cribs. We covered them, except for their heads, with their blankets, so they would stay warm through the night.

"Oh, Skipper, they finally did it!" I exclaimed softly, trying not to wake up the children. "Yes Marlene. Yes they did," Skipper said happily. We had a hug. "I love you Skipper," I said to him. "I love you too Marlene," he said to me. We then shared a kiss, so proud of the children and in our love.

That's a wrap on this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review. I have no notes today.


	4. Chapter 4 - Reading And Fighting

Welcome to the fourth chapter! As usual, my symbol rules apply. Let's go back to the story now.

**CHAPTER 4 – Reading And Fighting**

(P to Marlene, as usual, in one month) "Mom, this is hard," Annabelle said to me. "Yeah Mom, why are we learning to read?" Samuel asked me. I sighed. "Well, it's important. By learning to read, a world of possibilities is opened to you. You'll be able to understand what those signs mean outside our homes, not to mention other things," I said.

"What other things?" Annabelle asked me. "Well, you'll be able to learn how to use the computer once you learn to read. You'll also be able to learn more from books about being an Otter and a Penguin," I answered.

"But, Mom, you've said we're Pengotters. I'm still confused as to how we're possible, since you're a mammal and Dad is a bird," Samuel said. * "As much as I'd like to tell you, that information is still classified," I said. Annabelle sighed. "Must you do that all the time? Why keep secrets from us?" she asked.

I took a moment to think. "Well, kids, some things are still private between me and your father. Parents always have secrets. I learned that at a young age, too. Besides, how do I know if you have any secrets too?" I asked them. "We're three months old, Mom. There's still not much we can do yet," Samuel said. "I guess that's true. So let's resume today's lesson, shall we?" I asked. Both of them nodded.

After a few hours, they finally seemed to be getting the hang of reading after so many days. "Now will you sing your ABC's for me please?" I asked at the end of the lesson. Both of them sang it proudly, knowing they finally mastered reading.

"Very good children. Now let's go show your father," I said. The three of us climbed up the ladder where we found Skipper and the guys training. "Hi Dad," Annabelle and Samuel said to Skipper. "Good afternoon kids," Skipper said, hugging them. "We have a surprise for you Dad," Samuel said. "Oh? What is that?" Skipper asked. "This," Annabelle said, before the two of them sang their ABC's to him.

"Wow. How long did it take you to learn all of them?" Skipper asked after they finished. "Thanks to Mom, it only took a few days," Samuel said. The other guys jumped out of the water. "A few days? It took me weeks," Kowalski said. "Another win for a strange crossbreed," Annabelle said, high pawing Samuel. We all laughed.

"Now it's time to train you two," Skipper said. The other guys disappeared down the hatch. "What are we training for Dad? Is it academic, like reading?" Samuel asked. "It's more fun and useful in a pinch. We're going to train you to defend yourselves if you are attacked," Skipper answered. "Who would attack two little, innocent Pengotters?" Annabelle asked us. "We have many enemies, many of whom would try to use any of us to defeat us," I answered.

"Like who?" both of the kids asked, wide-eyed. I looked at Skipper for approval and he nodded. "Well, there's Officer X, Hans, Savio, the Rat King, The Red Squirrel, Clemson, Rhonda, Parker, the Space Squids, and one that I'll let your father explain to you," I said, passing it on to Skipper.

"The worst villain of them all is Dr. Blowhole. He was and still is my arch-nemesis. Since I've met him, we've all helped to defeat his plots. It all started when I foiled his plan to blow up the sun. Every time since then, he's tried to get revenge on us all. His last one still steams me," Skipper said.

"For his last revenge, he tried to kidnap me on our wedding day six months ago. That was actually my first true mission to defeat him after he failed to keep me captured for a few moments. Thanks to some ingenuity and our friend Matthew, both of us defeated him. In fact, we did that on our own, as your father was separated from me when I was taken," I said.

"Wait, you introduced us to everyone in the zoo. There's no one named Matthew here," Samuel said. "Do you think we should tell them?" I whispered to Skipper. "I think we should. They deserve to know about the other universe," Skipper whispered back to me. "Alright. We'll still keep some things classified, like what feral means and the lab," I said. "Agreed," Skipper said.

With that, both Skipper and I began to talk about the other universe. Both Samuel and Annabelle paid attention intently and were wide-eyed as we told them of how we went to an alternate universe, where people used to think we were simply on TV there, but had broken free of that limit thanks to Kowalski. The twins grew especially wide-eyed when we talked about Matthew, since humans here can't understand us.

"Wow. We all simply used to be TV characters?" Annabelle asked. "Sort of. Our lives existed before then, but were skewed in line with the movies and TV show. That's why it took me so long from arriving here at the zoo for the first time for us to admit our feelings to each other," I said, speaking of Skipper and myself.

"Does the TV show have to do with Pengotters being possible?" Samuel asked. "Well, actually, no," Skipper answered. "So when will we be able to visit the other world?" Annabelle asked me. "Let's get you trained and show you our world first," I said. Both of them looked annoyed with the answer, but thankfully accepted it.

"So the first thing to remember is to only use these moves only if absolutely necessary, such as to defend yourselves. Don't go around attacking anybody for no particular reason," Skipper said. "If you use these moves just to anger people, we'll all get in a lot of trouble with everyone," I added.

"I promise to not use these moves except in situations where I should," Samuel said. "I also promise to not use these moves except when I should," Annabelle added. "Very well. Let's get started," Skipper said.

For the next several hours, we taught them the basics of punching, kicking, using various weapons, and high fiving. "Are you sure we'll be able to remember all that?" Samuel asked. "I wondered that the very first time your father trained me. As you can see, I haven't forgotten how," I said.

"We actually have one final move to teach you, which you can use when we're all performing for the crowds," Skipper said. "What is that?" Annabelle asked, curious. "The corkscrew," Skipper and I replied. We ran up a lamppost and spun in the air until we corkscrewed into the pool. We jumped out of the pool back onto the platform. "That was so cool! I want to try!" Samuel exclaimed. "Me too!" Annabelle added. With that, we tried with them.

After we gave them instructions on what to do, they pulled it off on their first try! At the best glance I could get, they looked extremely excited and happy that they could do it. They then swam out of the pool back onto the platform.

"So was that it?" Samuel asked us. "Yes, that was. Congratulations, you're officially trained," Skipper said, proud of our children. "You're now ready to defend yourselves from anyone if necessary. You two did a great job!" I told the kids.

They looked extremely proud. "Thanks for training us. I have the feeling it'll come in handy in the future," Annabelle said. "Me too," Samuel said. "Well, hopefully not too soon in the future," I said. "Absolutely. Now let's go back down for the day," Skipper said. With that, we all went down into the HQ for the day.

That's a wrap on this chapter. Now you know how the kids can read, how they already knew about our world, and when they were trained. Please rate and review the chapter. There's only one note today.

* Sorry you two, you won't be getting your answer for 6 months, in Book 3. Also, yup, that's the start of that running gag.


	5. Chapter 5 - Curiosity Has A Bad Side

Welcome to chapter 5. I hope you're enjoying this story. So let's jump forward another month, shall we?

**CHAPTER 5 – Curiosity Has A Bad Side**

(P to Marlene, as usual) "Good job honey," I said to Annabelle, after we were done performing for the crowd. "Thanks mom. I always love doing this, especially when we get popcorn thrown at us," she said, catching some. "Me, too. I'm glad you and I are mammals, or at least have the appearance of them. We have teeth, unlike your father and brother," I said, catching some as well. We both laughed in between bites.

"I'm glad I'm the one who wound up looking like an Otter. Otherwise, I'd have a hard time eating lots of food," she said. "I'm glad you did too. Ever since we faked that you were simply a transfer and introduced you and your brother to the visitors, we've all seemed to have gotten more food as a reward," I said happily.

"One day I'd love to know how Sam and I are possible though. You'll have to declassify those files eventually," Annabelle said to me. "Like your father and I keep telling you, we'll tell you when you're older," I said. "Boy, will I love when that happens," Annabelle said. "I bet you will," I said, being slightly coy.

(P to night and to Annabelle)

"Like mom and dad keep saying, Sam and I really are curious. We must've got that from mom," I thought to myself. I looked over at mom, who was sleeping. Once again, she looked like she was snoring. "Am I glad we found these earplugs. Otherwise I don't think I'd ever fall asleep," I thought to myself.

For some reason, I felt extremely curious about something, but couldn't figure out what I was curious about. I carefully got up and walked out of the cave into the moonlight outside, while also taking out my earplugs and setting them down next to my bed. I saw Sam over on the platform at Dad's home, so I headed there.

"Can't sleep either?" Sam asked me when I reached him. "Not really. I feel like there's something making me especially curious tonight," I said. "Same here. Maybe it's the full moon," Sam suggested. We both laughed quietly.

"Sam, we're Pengotters, not werewolves," I said. "Yeah, that's true. Maybe a combined instinct or something?" Sam asked me. "Maybe. I'll really love it when Mom and Dad actually tell us how we exist in the first place," I said. "Me too," Sam said.

Suddenly, we both itched in one spot like crazy and began scratching that spot. "I know they think these GPS chips are a good idea and all, but they really itch!" Sam said. "Tell me about it. Hopefully it stops soon," I said. "I hope so too," Sam said. After 10 minutes, it finally stopped. "I'm glad that's over with," I said. "Same here. Hey, I just got an idea on how we can learn that we're possible," Sam said. "What's your idea?" I asked.

"I overheard Mom and Dad talking about something that's at the bottom of the elevator. Maybe we can find our answer down there," he said. "Maybe. But how are we supposed to get into the elevator without Dad or anyone else noticing?" I asked. "I'm not sure. But we should try," Sam said. "I agree. I'm a bit tired of them always saying _classified_ every time we ask them how. We're four months old, but I think they really should tell us," I said.

With that, we both went below very quietly and miraculously didn't wake Dad or the guys. We carefully crept over to the control panel and pressed the elevator button. The elevator popped out of the ground, but didn't ding for some reason. We both stepped in the elevator and pressed the buttons for the levels.

"There sure are a lot of levels in here," Sam said. "Yeah. I wonder why this is all still here," I said, pressing the button for level 3. Suddenly, the door opened and some giant one-eyed creature appeared! I freaked out and backed against the level buttons and out popped one for level 13. I pressed it quickly, in sheer panic.

"What the heck was that?" I asked. "I've got no clue. But whatever it is, I'm certainly not going to ask Mom or Dad," Sam said. "Me either. I'm also never pressing that button again," I said. We reached level 13 and the door opened up. "What are these things?" Sam asked me. "I think they're Kowalski's inventions. Hey, what's this one?" I questioned, picking one up that looked like a clock. *

Sam walked over and also placed a flipper on the device. "Hmm, I don't know," he said. I pressed the button with my paw and nothing happened. "Must be a dud. If we ever see this again, we'll have to let Kowalski know," I said. We pressed the button again and still nothing happened.

"Yeah, it's a dud alright. I wonder why Kowalski's kept it," Sam said after we set it down. "He does have an unhealthy attachment to science," I said. We both chuckled. "Got that saying from Dad, didn't you?" Sam asked me. "I guess I did. A lot of his sayings are good though," I said. "Yeah. Hey, what's this?" Sam asked as we walked up to something.

"This doesn't look like one of Kowalski's inventions. What do you think it is?" Sam asked me. I jumped on top of the device and my jaw dropped. "There's an ownership thing here. It says _Property of Dr. Blowhole_," I said. Sam's beak also dropped open. "Dr. Blowhole? Wow. I thought they were making him up," he said. "Me too. So this thing nearly ruined Mom and Dad's marriage day and would have gotten rid of us in the process," I said.

"Lucky for us that Mom teamed up with Matthew, whoever he is. One of these days, I'd like to meet him," Sam said. "Me too," I said, sitting down on the Segway. Suddenly a gun-looking thing rose up out of the Segway and blasted a red laser at us.

Suddenly, we were both trapped in our own cages on the floor. "Anna!" Sam shouted at me from his cage. "Sorry. I'll try to fix this," I said, inside of my own cage. It took the whole length of my arm and paw to hit a button on the Segway.

Unfortunately, a clown-looking thing popped up and blasted us. (P to 3rd person) "Uh, who am I?" Anna and Sam asked themselves, after getting blasted. "Who are you?" they asked each other. "I don't know," they both said. "Where are we?" Sam asked. "I can't remember. What were we doing?" Anna asked. "I can't remember either," Sam said.

(P to Marlene in the morning)

"Good morning sweetie," I said to Annabelle, while rubbing my eyes. I got no response from her. I gasped when I saw her earplugs on the floor. "Annabelle? Where are you?" I asked, frightened that someone might have kidnapped her. I immediately checked all around our habitat, even down where the first clue to the Golden Squirrel's treasure had been and she wasn't anywhere.

"Please, Annabelle, come out! Where are you?" I asked, panicking more. I immediately ran over to Skipper's, hoping to find both her and Samuel. Suddenly, in my panicked run, I crashed into Skipper and we both fell back. "Marlene, have you seen Samuel?" Skipper asked me.

"No! Have you seen Annabelle?" I asked him. "I haven't seen her either. Both of them are MIA," Skipper said. "Where could they possibly be?" I asked. "I don't know Marlene, but thankfully my gut is telling me they're somewhere safe here in the zoo," Skipper said.

"That's a small relief. But where could they have run off to?" I asked. "I don't know. But when we find them, we're going to give them a talking to about running off without us," Skipper said. "I agree," I said. We both checked around every single habitat and they weren't at any of them.

"Where are they Skipper? We've checked the whole zoo and they're not anywhere!" I said, extremely panicked and almost sobbing. "Please don't cry Marlene. We'll find them using their GPS chips we gave them a few days ago," Skipper said. "I forgot about that. Let's go down to level 13," I said, immediately not crying and now even more determined to find our children.

We both jumped down the hatch and went down to level 13, looking for the GPS Locator. Suddenly, we happened upon our kids in cages near Blowhole's Segway, sleeping. We both clapped loud enough to wake them up and they did.

"Now what were you two doing?" Skipper asked them. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" Annabelle asked. "You don't remember us?" I asked her. "I'm sorry, but we can't remember anything," Samuel said. "Can you help us?" Annabelle asked us.

"Do you think they Mind Jacked themselves?" I asked Skipper. "It looks like it. Let's de Mind Jack them, so that we can teach them better not to go poking around where they shouldn't be," Skipper said. "On it," I said. I jumped on the Segway and pressed the Mind Jacker's button and shot it at the kids.

"Uh… hi, Mom and Dad," Samuel and Annabelle said nervously after they were blasted again. "How'd you get down here?" I asked. "Well… it was Samuel's idea!" Annabelle said. "Yeah, but you got us into these cages and made us forget everything!" Samuel said.

"You two know better than to go poking around where you shouldn't. Why did you use this?" Skipper asked the kids. "It was an accident. I accidentally sat on the button and blasted us with cages and then the clown-looking thing," Annabelle answered. "The Mind Jacker," I said, clarifying. "So that's what it's called," Samuel said.

"What were you doing down here in the first place?" I asked the kids. "We thought we could find the answer down here as to why we exist. Not here specifically, but on one of the levels," Samuel answered. "How'd you even know this level existed?" I asked. "That giant eye freaked me out and I bumped into the buttons, revealing this one," Annabelle answered. "There's an interesting, classified story about that actually," Skipper said.

"Cool. Can we please get out of these cages now?" Samuel asked. "Yes, but first you should take an oath not to come down here," I said and whispered the oath to Skipper, which brought a smile to his face.

"Now repeat after us," Skipper and I said. "I do solemnly swear," Skipper and I said and the kids repeated. "That on my life as a Pengotter," we continued and they repeated. "That I will not go poking around where I shouldn't and will be doing maintenance duty for a full week," Skipper and I finished. After groaning at the maintenance duty, our kids repeated that as well. I pressed the button for the cage blaster and shot the kids again, freeing them.

"Sorry we're so curious," they said apologetically. "It's alright. But I do wonder from which one of us you got that from," I said. ** "Maintenance duty for a week. That won't be fun," Samuel said. "You have to learn the hard way of not poking around," Skipper said. "Well, alright then," Annabelle said. (P back to Annabelle a bit later)

"You know this is your fault right?" I said to Samuel, while mopping the floor. "You know you could have stopped me right?" Samuel asked me, while cleaning the windows. "I suppose. But maintenance duty for a week isn't fun," I said. "I agree. But I'm never going down there without Mom or Dad again," Samuel said. "Me either," I agreed.

That's a wrap on this chapter. Did you like it, even though I hinted at it back at the end of Book 3? Please rate and review. Time for two notes.

* Seems they found the Stopwatch and actually stopped time for a moment. Thank goodness they pressed it again or might have been stuck forever.

** As also revealed in Book 3, the kids got their curiosity from Marlene.


	6. Chapter 6 - Never Getting Transferred

Welcome to chapter 6. Do you like reading about the shenanigans the Pengotters got themselves into? I hope you do like reading this story. Anyway, the new chapter is here!

**CHAPTER 6 – Never Getting Transferred**

(P to Marlene in another month) "Good morning honey," I said to Annabelle after we woke up. "Good morning Mom," she said. I smiled. "It still feels great to hear you say that to me," I said. "It feels great to call you my Mom as well," Annabelle said. With that, we hugged and then headed over to the HQ.

When we got there, everyone was already up, too. "Good morning to you," I said. "Good morning Mom and Anna," Samuel said. "Good morning to you as well," Kowalski, Rico, and Private said. "Good morning honey," Skipper said and embraced me. "Good morning to you sweetie," Skipper said to Annabelle and kissed the top of her head, which made her giggle.

After a few minutes, the coffee machine was finally done. "You always know how to make a great cup of coffee Skipper," I said to him after drinking some. "Anything to make you happy," Skipper said to me. I kissed him in thanks.

After coffee was done, we all headed up to the platform for our morning training. We all did really well. Annabelle and Samuel were getting really good at it. They seemed to be enjoying the exercise and being out in the sun. "They certainly got that fun-having attitude from myself," I thought happily as I watched them.

After our training, we went back down into the HQ. Skipper and I were in the midst of playing chess with Annabelle and Samuel when Kowalski shouted "Eureka!" from his lab. * All of us filed into the lab, where Kowalski was standing next to the computer Matthew had gotten us. **

"What did you accomplish today Kowalski?" Private asked him. "I've finally cracked Alice's email password. Now we'll be able to see what animals might come in or go out before they reach the transfer system," Kowalski answered.

"Outstanding, Kowalski. Especially since Alice isn't here yet, we can see what she received overnight," Skipper said. "Who or what is being transferred?" I asked. We opened Alice's inbox and scrolled through it. Most emails were mundane, such as ads or spam, but one was marked as _transfer request_.

We clicked on that one and gasped as we were reading it. Someone from Copenhagen wanted Annabelle and I transferred there! "I don't want to be transferred!" Annabelle exclaimed, starting to sob. I immediately walked over to her and started to comfort her. "Annabelle, don't worry. I promise we won't get transferred. Skipper?" I asked my husband.

"Kowalski, options," Skipper ordered him. "This email was unread before we clicked it. I propose we delete it and mark the sender as spam to prevent further requests from coming in," Kowalski answered. "Do it," I said, still comforting Annabelle.

Kowalski did so and the email was gone. "See? We won't get transferred," I told Annabelle. She looked up from sobbing into my fur and smiled. "Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without my father or brother," she said.

"We don't know what we'd do without you two either," Skipper and Samuel said. We were going to go back to our habitats to get ready for the visitors in a little while, but the email dinged again. Once again, another transfer email came in! "Kowalski, I thought we blocked that sender!" Skipper shouted. "It's a different sender. That zoo must use multiple addresses," Kowalski said, as he deleted the email and blocked the sender.

"Could Blowhole be trying to tear us apart?" I asked. We went to the Seaville web site and miraculously Blowhole was still there, jumping through the Ring of Fire for the guests. "It's not Blowhole, I guess. Could it be the other world?" I asked. "Marlene, they still don't know about our children. And I'm sure Matthew doesn't either and if he did, he would not separate us," Skipper answered. "You're probably right. But how do we stop these?" I asked.

"I propose we all sit here in shifts, making sure no more emails come in. I also volunteer to be here for the first shift," Skipper said. "Won't Alice notice if you're missing?" Samuel asked. "She didn't notice I was missing for nearly a month and a half when I was pregnant with you two," I said to Samuel and Annabelle. "So it's settled then. We'll each do four hour shifts until this person stops," Skipper ordered. (P to 3rd person)

For the next week, everyone took different shifts at different hours, even at night. Every time an email was caught and deleted, it was a small victory against the forces that wanted to rip the family apart. Just in case anyone got wise of the emails somehow, Marlene and Annabelle temporarily moved into the HQ in case they might be suddenly transferred. But slowly and surely, as the week progressed, the emails were no longer coming in. (P back to Marlene)

"My shift is over Skipper. Still no emails," I said happily, coming out of the HQ. "It's been a full 24 hours since the last one. That means whoever was trying to get you and Annabelle transferred has finally given up," Skipper said smiling. "I'm so glad that crisis is over. I never want to be threatened with another transfer ever again," I said.

"I'll get Kowalski right on that in a minute," Skipper said. "What are you going to do first?" I asked curious. "This," Skipper said, suddenly kissing me. I started kissing him back and after what seemed like an eternity, we pulled apart. "I don't think I could ever live without you Marlene," Skipper said to me lovingly. "And I don't think I could ever live without you Skipper," I said to him, also lovingly.

With one more kiss, we dropped down below. "Kowalski, is there a way you can get so deep into the system to make it so none of us can ever get transferred unless we do it ourselves?" Skipper asked him. "There might be a way. I'll go look for one," Kowalski said, heading into the lab.

"Are we finally free of the threat?" Annabelle asked us. "Yes, honey. We're never going anywhere," I said happily. She and Samuel both ran over to us and in the process actually knocked us down. "I love you Mom and Dad," both our children said. "We love you too," Skipper and I said. (P to an hour later)

"Everyone, I've made it so that only we ourselves can transfer us to different zoos," Kowalski said, coming out of his lab. "Outstanding Kowalski," Skipper said. "Finally, we'll never have to go through this again," I said happily. "Am I sure glad that's over," Samuel and Annabelle said. "We sure are too," Skipper and I said, walking over and hugging our children again.

That's a wrap on this chapter. Yes, I also slightly hinted at this in Book 3. Thank goodness I was able to get them that computer back at the end of Book 2 or they would never have known. Time for two notes.

* The couple loves to play chess, so obviously they would teach their children.

** Man, am I glad I got them the computer. Referencing Book 2 with that bit.


	7. Chapter 7 - It's Not April Fools!

Welcome to the 7th chapter of _Pengotters: The Early Months_. I hope you all like this extension of _Pengotter Pregnancy_. So let's progress forward again, shall we?

**CHAPTER 7 – It's Not April Fools!**

(P staying with Marlene and moving forward another month) "So Skipper, what would you like to do today since the zoo is closed?" I asked him, in my cave. "Well, I was hoping at some point we would teach the kids to drive the car," Skipper answered. "Permission granted," I said to Skipper. Skipper kissed me. "Thank you honey," Skipper said. With that we started to walk out of the cave.

Sudden as we were walking out, Julien ran at us and chained our feet together. "Ringtail! What is the meaning of this?" Skipper questioned him. "I am being the April Fool," Julien answered. "It's December Julien! April Fools isn't for four months!" I said. "I am getting a head start on the fun," Julien said and then ran towards the HQ.

Skipper and I tried to jump after him, but the difference in our jumping speed made us each pull on the chain and fall down. "Are you alright Marlene?" Skipper asked, helping me up. "Yes. I'm fine, other than being extremely annoyed," I answered. We both tried to use our fists to break the lock on the chain, but it wasn't working.

"Now what?" I asked. "Well, we should get to the HQ to see what Kowalski can do about this, not to mention see what damage Ringtail has done," Skipper said. "Alright. But no jumping or we'll probably keep falling down. But weren't the kids there?" I asked. We both sighed. "Yes. I wonder what Julien did to them, considering what he's done to us," Skipper said.

"Yes. The first time he thought it was April Fools; he gave me extremely spicy oysters and played all those pranks on you. * I must have drank a lot of water to get rid of the spice," I said. "That day was not fun for anyone," Skipper said. We both tried to walk, but again, with our different paces, we fell down again. "This might take awhile," I said as we got up.

(P to Annabelle, a bit earlier) "Hey Sam, what do Mom and Dad have planned for us today?" I asked my brother. "I can't remember. Hopefully it's something fun after all these weeks of training," Sam said. "I sure hope so. The zoo is closed today, after all," I said. As we were chatting, Julien dropped down and ran into Kowalski's lab. We both walked inside.

"Julien? You're not supposed to be…" I started to say before I was blasted with paint. Luckily, thanks to my reflexes, none of it got into my eyes. Suddenly it stopped. "Julien! Don't mess with my…" I heard Samuel say, before I heard the paint blasting at him. "What are you doing?" I asked, opening my eyes back up. "I am getting ready for the April Fools!" Julien shouted before leaving.

I turned around and saw Sam standing there, but he was covered in paint. Not just any paint, but brown paint! He looked like an Otter, other than for his beak and flippers. "Sam, you look like me!" I said. "Not anymore. You look like me," Sam said. I looked down and saw I was now black and white, like Sam is normally. "What did he do that for anyway?" I asked. "I don't know. What's April Fools? Shouldn't it be in, you know, April?" Sam asked.

"Based off the name, I think it should," I said. "We'll have to ask Mom and Dad to help us get cleaned up and what April Fools is," Sam said. "I agree. Hey, do you think he did anything to them?" I asked. "He probably did. I wonder what it was," Sam said.

"Hopefully it wasn't as bad as the predicament we're now in," I said. We both left the lab and waited for Mom and Dad to come back. After a few minutes, they did, albeit falling on their faces.

(P back to Marlene) "Are you alright?" Annabelle asked us, while both of them helped us up. "Yes, sweetie. What happened to you two?" I asked our children, noticing their appearances were switched. "Julien," they both said.

"The same problem happened to us. But you two look worse off," Skipper said. They sighed. "You can say that. What did he do to you?" Samuel asked. Skipper and I, while each putting an appendage on the wall for leverage, lifted our feet into the air. "That's why it took you so long. So how do we fix this?" Annabelle asked.

"Well, we'll have to give you two a thorough scrubbing. As to us, we need Kowalski's freeze ray. Speaking of Kowalski, where are they?" I asked. "Just before Julien ambushed us, they all went to work on the car," Samuel said.

"As long as Julien doesn't get to anyone else, that's good," Skipper said. "Yes, but now he's made me want revenge," I said slyly. ** Everyone's faces turned towards me in shock.

"My, my honey, I don't think I've heard you want any in a long time," Skipper said. "Wow, Mom. I've never seen you act like this before," Annabelle said. "Me either. When was the last time Dad?" Samuel asked.

"We'll tell you after we get this straightened out," Skipper said. "Please get the freeze ray from Kowalski's lab. But don't touch anything else," I said to our children. Still in faces of shock, they went into the lab and closed the door behind them.

(P to Annabelle) "Wow," Sam said. "I agree. Wow. Where did Mom suddenly get that from?" I asked. "I have no idea. But we really shouldn't do anything to Mom that might cause her to revenge on us," Sam said. "I don't think I ever will. We still don't even know what she has planned," I said. (P back to Marlene)

"Did you see the shock on their faces?" I asked Skipper. "I'm still shocked myself. I haven't seen you this way since the last time we saw the Vesuvius twins," Skipper said. "I have no idea what came over me just now. But I do have a plan," I said. "Do tell," Skipper said eagerly. "Well, as long as Julien didn't get to them first, we could get Kowalski to invent something for today," I said.

"And what is that?" Skipper asked. "A whoopee cushion noise maker," I said. "You want Kowalski to invent that? Well, I must say Marlene, that's an interesting plan. I'll be happy to authorize that. I will definitely enjoy the results," Skipper said smiling. I was smiling at the thought of what will happen as well. "I'll enjoy them too," I said.

Just then, the kids came back out of the lab, freeze ray in hand. "So do you want us to do this or do you not want us to use it?" Samuel asked. "You can try it. Just make sure to only point it at the lock," Skipper directed.

We both stepped as far away as we could from each other, to minimize the chance that we might be frozen instead. "Here goes," Annabelle said. They both aimed the freeze ray at the lock and pressed the button. It was completely frozen, so Skipper and I punched the lock again, finally freeing ourselves.

"Thank you children. Please go put that back now," I said. They promptly did and came back. "What do you have planned Mom?" Samuel asked me. I told them my plan and they both fell to the floor laughing. "That's a hysterical plan. I can't wait to see that after you clean us up," Annabelle said after they composed themselves. "Let's do that now," I said.

We all got the brushes and soap from one of the lower levels and filed up top carefully looking out for Julien. Thankfully we didn't spot him, but did not let our guards down. We sat down on the lowest part of the platform in the back and the kids dove in the water and then came back up. "Ready," they both said.

With that, we soaped the kids up and started brushing them, trying not to be too hard or make them lose feathers or fur patches. "Oww," Annabelle suddenly said. "Sorry sweetie," I said.

"Oww," Samuel said a few minutes later. "Sorry son," Skipper said. After an hour or so of trying to be even more careful, we had finally cleaned the kids up. "Thanks Mom," Annabelle said to me, hugging me. "Thanks Dad," Samuel said to Skipper, also hugging him. "You're welcome. Let's go get our revenge shall we?" I asked. Everyone nodded eagerly.

We cleaned up the supplies before we set back out, but through the passage leading from the HQ to the garage because of Julien. Arriving there, thankfully Julien hadn't shown up.

"Ah, hello everyone. We just improved the car, giving it five more miles to the gallon," Kowalski said. "Good job Kowalski," Skipper said. "We have one more thing we'd like to ask you to do though," I said.

Kowalski looked interested, wondering what we all wanted. "What would you like us to do?" Kowalski asked, speaking of himself, Private, and Rico. "We'd like you to invent a whoopee cushion machine," Annabelle said.

"A whoopee cushion machine? What for?" Kowalski asked. We explained what happened to us over the last few hours and Kowalski looked eager to invent our machine. "I would be happy to help you with Julien," Kowalski said.

We all left the garage through the passage again and when we got back to the HQ and locked it down in case Julien popped in again. We spent a good hour or so planning and then all building the new machine.

"Whoopee cushion machine complete," Kowalski said. "Good. I'm itching to get revenge," I said slyly. Once again, the kids' faces were in shock. I looked up out of the HQ to try and find Julien. He was on his throne, eating mangos. "He's on his throne," I reported. We all lifted the machine out of the HQ and set it on the platform. "So how long should we make him do it?" Samuel asked. "The rest of today sounds good," I said.

We set the machine to make Julien have whoopee cushion noises whenever he sat down for the rest of the day. We aimed it right at Julien and fired. We all heard the telltale sound of a whoopee cushion as he sat back down with a new mango in his hand.

He freaked out and jumped up. It took all of our effort not to burst out laughing, especially since we still had the machine out. We quickly put it down in level 13 and then went back up.

We all burst out laughing seeing Julien sitting down and standing up quickly, wondering why he was making whoopee cushion noises. We noticed everyone else was laughing at the sight as well. He looked so confused. We went back down after maybe an hour of laughing.

"Mom, that is an awesome revenge," Samuel and Annabelle said in between laughs. "I have no idea what came over me still. But thank you. It is hilarious," I said also laughing. "You did a great job Marlene. On actual April Fools, if we don't flee beforehand, you're in charge," Skipper said also laughing. *** "That'll be fun, if we don't flee," I agreed.

We spent the rest of the day just relaxing in the HQ, while also receiving many _thank you_ sayings from our friends. They also loved the result that was happening, not to mention shocked that I had actually come up with the idea. It was a hilarious day. Julien actually popped in, seeking help. We all had to clamber up, in order for him not to suspect us.

Kowalski lied to Julien that he had contracted a rare disease, but that it would go away tomorrow, which Julien actually accepted, but also pledged to all of us _loyal subjects_ that he would stand until it was over. That didn't work out at all, as every hour or so, we heard the familiar sound, even in the HQ.

Between laughing hysterically, we all worked on different things. Kowalski was working on another new invention idea, Rico was hanging out with his doll, and Private was watching the Lunacorns.

Thanks to that, we had to take the kids to my habitat for chess, since they had inherited Skipper's dislike of the show. They really were getting good at chess, but Skipper and I still had the upper hand and kept winning. After the day, we all went to bed and went to sleep.

Oh, Marlene, when you want revenge, you really want it. Also, yep, it's still fun to write her out of character. Was this a fun chapter? Please rate and review it. I've only got a few notes today.

* Referencing "April Fools." Also, no one knows what Julien did to Marlene, so I guess that's what he did.

** I know Marlene was out of character. But it made for some hilarious results.

*** In Book 3, we did all flee. Maybe next time, Marlene.


	8. Chapter 8 - The Start Of A Vacation

Welcome to chapter 8. This time, instead of a month, the story is only moving forward a single week. Let's read about what's going on, shall we?

**CHAPTER 8 – The Start Of A Vacation**

(P staying with Marlene) "A vacation sounds great Skipper! But where will we go? What will we pack? What about the kids?" I asked him. "Well, when the kids were born we both agreed we would show them our world before the other world, so can go on a tour via planes and through zoos and aquariums," Skipper said.

"Thanks to us being able to change wherever we want to go and having our phones, we can vacation to wherever we want. As for what to pack, we're animals, so we don't need clothes, which cuts down what we need by a lot. We'll just need our phones and food for when we're in between destinations. We won't even need maps since our phones all have maps," Skipper answered.

"I'm glad our phones actually still work. The carrier doesn't even know they're billing Matthew, who doesn't even live here," I said with a chuckle. "If they ever find out, our phones would be useless without Wi-Fi," Skipper said also chuckling.

"So just us and the kids or everyone?" I asked. "Well, we should all go. The boys and I were, well, forced to leave the zoo all those years ago. We'll make sure to avoid Madagascar, Antarctica, and of course, Copenhagen," Skipper said.

I kissed Skipper. "Definitely not going there. I've looked up the zoo and it looks like there would be no way for us to get near a computer if Annabelle and I got stuck there," I said. Skipper kissed me.

"I am not going to lose anyone on this trip. If I do, we'll have to erase this trip from ever happening by making another Chronotron. Someone will send a note back in time to right this moment saying _Do not go on vacation_," Skipper said. We both stood there silently looking around waiting for any note to drop in through a Chronotron portal and none did.

"Looks like we won't lose anybody Skipper. When do you want to leave and where do you want to go first?" I asked him. "Let's go tell everyone else first. Then we'll decide that," Skipper said.

We both ran out of the cave and jumped all the way over to the HQ, landing in the pool. "That was a long jump," I noted after we swam up to the platform. "It sure was. That training lately must have helped," Skipper said. "I agree," I said.

We both jumped down into the HQ, where everyone was waiting to see what we had been planning. "What do you have planned for us today?" Annabelle asked us. "Actually, we've maybe got something planned for the next several weeks," I said. Everyone looked at us curiously.

"It was actually my idea. How would you all like to go on vacation?" Skipper asked everyone. "Our last vacation didn't go so well Skipper," Private said, a bit sad. "The other world interfered with that, again. And this time we've got more than our wits to get around," Skipper said. "We've got our phones to stay in contact and we can easily know where to go thanks to their maps. Not to mention, we've all got GPS chips," I said.

"That sounds great! But where will we go?" Samuel asked us. "As your father just reminded me, after you two were born we were thinking of showing you our world before the other one, so we'll vacation all around our globe. We'll easily be able to fake transfers in zoos and we can just roam around, stealthily of course," I answered.

"If we get tired of one country, we'll transfer ourselves to another zoo in a different one. Of course, we'll be avoiding Copenhagen and places that say they want to keep Penguins and Otters permanently," Skipper said.

"Where should we go first?" Kowalski asked us. We both thought for a moment. "Let's head west. We've seen what California looks like in the other world; so let's see what's here too. Some of your family may still be at your old aquarium too Marlene," Skipper said to me. "Luckily for you, my parents took a paws off approach to my relationships after someone told them to," I said to Skipper.

"Do you know who?" Skipper asked me. "I actually don't. I only overheard my parents say that once. But it did work out. It might have been someone like Fred's grandma," I said laughing. We all laughed at the similarity between the strangeness that had been Fred's grandmother during the Golden Squirrel Escapade and what had turned out to be great for both Skipper and I. *

"When are we leaving?" Annabelle asked us. "Well, let's get ourselves transferred out there tomorrow. We should do at least one last day of performances before we leave," Skipper said. (P to 3rd person)

Throughout the day, everyone at their own habitats tried to do the best they ever had. Many more fish were sold than ever before to the boys, along with more popcorn being thrown to the girls. After the zoo closed, they linked up systems from around the world with the phones to control where they would be going and set up a transfer with two crates. One for the family and one for the guys. (P to tomorrow and Marlene)

"Ready to go sweetie?" I asked Annabelle after we had packed everything we would need inside of Rico and were preparing to be shipped out. "Ready Mom. This is a great idea!" Annabelle exclaimed happily. Suddenly we were both picked up out of the habitat and moved to the transfer room. After a few minutes, Skipper, Samuel, and the guys joined us as well.

One of Alice's assistants left us sitting in the facility looking for crates and the truck that would take us. They came back a few minutes later with the crates and placed Annabelle and I into one crate and then used his walkie talkie to ask Alice a question. "Hey, Alice, I don't know about this. The computer says I should put some of the Penguins and Otters together to ship them out," he said.

Alice came over the radio. "Are you questioning the computer? The same one that spits out our paychecks?" Alice responded. "Excellent point," the assistant said. With a puzzled face, the assistant placed Skipper and Samuel into our crate, while putting Kowalski, Rico, and Private into the other crate. After a few moments, we felt the crate move to a truck and start moving.

"Do you think we'll be driving or flying Skipper?" I asked him. "Unless the driver is driving for nearly a week, I'd say we're going to be put on a plane next," he answered. "A plane? Is that like the jetpacks?" Samuel asked us.

"Sort of. Instead of being limited to one or two soda bottles, it has much more fuel. Some can fly for nearly half a day without needing to be refueled," Skipper answered. "And you don't need to worry about controlling your own movements. We'll probably be able to nap on the plane, since there will be nothing else to do," I added.

Sure enough, about an hour later, we felt ourselves being moved onto a conveyor belt from out of the truck. It felt weird, constantly being turned by forces we didn't control, like swimming in a strong current. We felt ourselves again be transferred to another truck from the conveyor belt and then a final conveyor belt onto a plane.

Once inside the plane, we did roll call to make sure everyone had made it. From the other crate, we could hear the guys call in. Suddenly, we all felt the G-Forces of the plane from it taking off and then they leveled after a few minutes.

"Mom, are you excited to be going on vacation?" Annabelle asked me. "Yes, sweetie, I am. It's been over six years since I was transferred. I wonder who from my family will still be there," I said.

"I wonder what they'll think of you and I," Skipper said to me. "Not to mention us," Samuel added. We all chuckled. "Yes, that'll be a bit strange to explain," I said. "Will we finally learn how we're possible?" Annabelle asked Skipper and I.

Skipper and I thought about our response for a moment. "Not yet. Maybe after we return home," I said. Both of our children sighed in defeat, knowing that was the end of the conversation. "So how long will it take to fly to your old aquarium Mom?" Samuel asked me after a moment.

"I'm not sure," I said. "Well, considering any weather, other planes' flight paths, and where the airport is in relation to the aquarium, it could be anywhere between 5 to 6 hours," Kowalski answered from the other crate. "Thanks Kowalski," Skipper said. "It's no trouble Skipper," Kowalski replied

After that, we all decided to try and sleep for the duration of the flight. Samuel and Annabelle feel asleep pretty fast after we decided that. They looked just as adorable sleeping now as they did when we first brought them back into the zoo. "Goodnight Skipper," I said to him. "Goodnight Marlene," he said to me. We both drifted off to sleep, wondering whom from my family we would see when we arrived at my old aquarium.

That's a wrap on this chapter. Remember, they all said they went on vacation in the beginning of Book 3 to me. So now they're on vacation for the next two months. It'll be fun to write some of the scenarios. Please rate and review this chapter. I'll see you in the next one. I've only got one note today.

* This idea just came to me. No idea why. But now I have another idea with that.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Aquarium

Welcome to the 9th chapter. Let's get them all to the aquarium.

Sorry for the wrong upload earlier. Darn technology. Thank you to Aquade for pointing this out.

**CHAPTER 9 – The Aquarium**

(P to Marlene) I jolted awake when I felt everything move. For a moment, I feared I was getting transferred on my own, but then I saw Skipper and the kids also awake, so that quickly passed. "Welcome to California children," I said to them happily. "What? Could you speak up Mom?" they both asked me. * I repeated myself louder and this time they heard me. "So why are we having trouble hearing you?" Samuel asked.

"It must be the air pressure that suddenly decreased," Kowalski answered loudly so the kids could hear. "How long will that last?" Annabelle asked. "Anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours," Kowalski replied. Suddenly, both of the kids reached for their ears in pain. "Oww," they both said, massaging their heads. "What's wrong?" Skipper and I asked worriedly.

"I think my ears just popped," they both said. "It's worn off now. That's usually a sign for when your ears are normal again," Kowalski answered. We all breathed a sigh of relief at that being over. We felt ourselves being lowered down on another conveyor belt down to a truck. We heard the door close after the guys' crate was also put into the truck.

After a few minutes, we actually didn't wind up on another conveyor belt, but were still on the truck. "Where are we right now?" I asked. "Rico, look on a phone for where we are," Skipper said to him. We heard Rico release a phone, but thankfully it didn't make a sound when it turned on. "We're in San Jose in California Marlene," Kowalski reported. "Hmm… the Bay Area. Maybe we could get back up here and see if there's a version of Matthew in his hometown. After this of course," I said. "We'll have to pull it off at night, when the zoos are closed," Skipper said. "Agreed," I said.

For probably the next hour or so, we continued driving down what was probably a freeway, with location updates every 15 minutes or so. "We're currently 10 minutes out from the aquarium," Kowalski reported. "Everyone brace to be taken out of the crates. Swallow the phone back up Rico. We can't risk the humans seeing that," Skipper ordered. Rico did swallow it back up, but after shutting the phone off.

After the 10 minutes, we suddenly all felt the truck stop, probably in front of the aquarium. I was so excited to see if any of my family was still here after all these years. We were carried to something that was probably a loading dock and then moved again to a new spot and released into the back of a habitat.

I immediately recognized it. It was my home. We were in the back of my old cave. I peered through the front up ahead and saw both Penguins and Otters in the habitat! Apparently it was a home for Penguins as well now! That meant none of us would be separated. "Welcome to my old home," I said to Skipper and the kids happily. Skipper kissed me and the kids hugged me in response.

The guys' crate was also opened near us after a few more minutes and out they came. "Welcome to my old aquarium guys," I said happily to them. "It's for both Otters and Penguins. Interesting," Kowalski said, while also probably making a mental note. "None of us will be separated," I said very happy.

We all proceeded out of the cave into the area where everyone was. I tried to look for familiar faces, hoping to find someone from my family. Of course, it had been six years so anyone that I had known was older now. I tried to look for older versions of my parents and sister.

Suddenly, one of the Otters did start walking up to us! She looked familiar, and was not my mother. I knew instantly it was my sister. "Marlene? Is it really you?" she asked me. "Yes, Emily, it's me," I said happily to her, hugging her. ** "It's been so long since I've seen any family," Emily said, hugging me tighter. "It's been so long for me too," I said, hugging her tighter as well.

We both released each other and looked at each other. "Well, you've certainly grown since I last saw you," I said. "I'm still shorter than you though," she said sadly. We both laughed, remember the sibling rivalry we had. I was also laughing because of the similar sibling rivalry between my children.

"Mom and Dad taught me better manners than this. Come on, I'll take you to my cave," Emily said to us. We all followed her across the habitat and entered her cave. It looked a lot like mine, including drawings of what I presumed was Monterey and the ocean. "You have a beautiful home Emily," I said to her. She smiled. "Thanks. I tried to copy your art skills. It's nice to know I did well," Emily said. "Where did you go? How long are you here for? Who are your friends?" Emily asked me.

"Well, I was transferred to New York City from here. It's a beautiful city. And really big," I said. "Bigger than Monterey?" Emily asked me. "Very much. And how do you know how big Monterey is? We were born here, in captivity," I said surprised. "After you were transferred away, Mom and Dad said they were actually going to help both of us to be able to leave on that day. Let's just say it took me a long time to get used to the outside world," Emily said. I knew exactly what she meant. "It took me a few tries, too. I had some help as well," I said, waving to Skipper and the guys.

"Being able to go outside is great. Maybe one night I can take you all on a tour of my city," Emily said. "There's nothing we would like more," Skipper said. That made Emily really happy and she smiled. Boy, was she about to find out something huge.

"So how long are you here for?" Emily asked. "We're not sure. We have yet to decide," I said. "What do you mean?" Emily asked. "We all wanted a vacation, so we set ourselves up to be transferred to different zoos for the next month or two," I said.

"How'd you pull that off?" Emily asked. "We got into our zookeeper's system on the computer," I explained. "You can read?" she asked curious. "It took awhile, but yes. I suppose we'll have to teach you too," I said. "That sounds fun. I can't wait!" Emily exclaimed happily.

"So who are your friends?" Emily asked me. Everyone introduced themselves to her. "It's nice to meet you all. I'll enjoy hanging out with you all until you get transferred again," Emily said. "We will too," Annabelle said happily as we all smiled. "I've raised good children," I thought to myself.

"So Marlene do you mind if we catch up ourselves?" Emily asked me. "Of course not. Would you all mind waiting outside?" I asked everyone. They all nodded and left, and probably went to meet the other Otters and Penguins. "So what is it you wanted to talk about?" I asked my sister.

"Well, I thought I saw something between you and that flat-headed Penguin, Skipper. Mind explaining that?" she asked. "How'd you pick up on that?" I asked curious. Emily laughed. "You know how hard it was for you to hide a secret from me," she said coyly.

We both smiled, remembering all the trouble we had gotten into as kids. "Well, you're absolutely correct on that. You're very perceptive. Skipper and I are actually married," I said. Emily looked really confused. "You married a Penguin?" she asked. "Well, there's more to it than that actually," I said.

"I'm not exactly sure how to explain it to you, but Annabelle and Samuel are our daughter and son," I continued. Emily's jaw dropped and she looked dizzy, like she was going to faint. She suddenly started fainting, but I caught her before she hit the ground, thanks to my reflexes.

"I should have expected that," I thought to myself while carefully taking her to her bed. "Skipper, could you come here please?" I called for my husband. He immediately appeared. "Yes Marlene?" he asked me.

"Well, Emily did detect something between us. That's what she wanted to talk about," I said. "She fainted at us being married?" Skipper asked. "Well, she was confused, but didn't actually faint until I said Annabelle and Samuel were our children. We packed smelling salts right?" I asked.

"We probably should have expected that. And, yes, I packed some smelling salts inside Rico. I'll get them and the kids. But, boy is your sister in for a surprise when we tell her about the other world," Skipper said. "That's an understatement. Better bring back a few sets of smelling salts," I said. "Can do," Skipper said. He left the cave and returned with Annabelle and Samuel, along with a few sets of smelling salts.

"So Aunt Emily fainted at us?" Annabelle asked as they came in the cave. "Yes sweetie," I answered. "We probably should have expected that," Samuel said. "I agree," I said. I took one of the smelling salts and cracked it below Emily's nose and she started to wake back up.

"Are you alright Emily?" I asked, checking. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm just… really confused. I mean, I kept hearing from Mom and Dad that someone told them you'd find true love in an unexpected way, so I get you Skipper," Emily said while sitting back up.

"Thank you," Skipper said. "But I mean, we're mammals and Skipper is a bird. How did that work out?" Emily asked me. "Sorry children, this is where the classified information comes in," I said. They both looked sad, but left the cave and went back to meeting everyone outside.

"You do have responsive kids," Emily said. "Thanks. We pride ourselves on that," Skipper said. "So my sister and now brother-in-law, how did you manage to have children?" Emily asked us. We spent the next few hours explaining what happened from the moment I had met Skipper until yesterday, including the other world and the lab. We did have to crack open more smelling salts, especially when we talked about the other world.

After a few hours, Emily was starting to understand it all. "That's… absolutely wild. Everything's the same there?" Emily asked. "Almost. Some people are, like politicians, but for animals and non-famous people, it seems we're all unique," I said.

"We all used to be controlled by a TV network there. That's why you were transferred isn't it?" Emily asked. "We think so. While our, scripts we guess, were being written, our world reacted to those changes," Skipper said.

"So they had no idea, did they?" Emily asked. "Not until we were discovered last year. They were pretty shocked we had broken out of the TV, supposedly," I said. "I wonder what the people who thought they made us think," Emily said. "We still have yet to meet them as well. That'll be the first question we ask them," Skipper said.

"Best friends with a human that turns into a Penguin sometimes. That's actually kind've cool," Emily said. "We think so too. It's also fun to have millions of fans there," I said. "Always the showoff," Emily said to me jokingly. We all laughed. "I guess," I said smiling.

"But two classes of species having children. That's just amazing. I imagine you were all shocked when you found out," Emily said. "I certainly was. After all, I was pregnant with the children for three months," I said. "I fainted when she told me the news," Skipper said. We both chuckled remembering that day. "Your children do seem to take after you, from what I've seen so far. They also really look like you two," Emily said.

"We're still trying to figure out what else we may have passed down. It's harder to figure out, since they're crossbreeds," I said. "Pengotters. That's really cool. Way cooler than either of our species. But I don't want to know what would happen if the humans in, our world I guess, found that out," Emily said. "We don't want to find out either. We'd have to move worlds," I said.

"Maybe in the future, you can get me transferred to your zoo and then we can go to that world. They don't know that I even exist do they?" Emily asked. "They still don't even know about the kids yet. But we could probably get you there in the future," Skipper said. Emily smiled. "That sounds fun. But instead of a temporary visit to your home, I'd like to move there," she said. "The Big Apple isn't exactly bursting with Otters sis," I said.

"Maybe in the meantime I could try to find an Otter for myself," Emily suggested. "We'll have to teach you how to read so we can stay in contact through the Internet," I said. We all yawned, as it was getting pretty late.

"I look forward to everything starting tomorrow," Emily said. "Good. We'll see you tomorrow," Skipper said. "Goodnight you two. Say goodnight to my niece and nephew for me please," Emily said. "Goodnight sis. We will," I said. We left the cave and looked for Annabelle and Samuel.

We spotted them trying to adapt the tricks we had taught them to the new environment. They looked like they were managing to pull it off. "Once again Skipper, they're really quick thinkers," I said to him. "At least we know where that came from," Skipper said. "Yeah. From both of us," I said smiling.

"Good evening kids," we said as we walked up to them. "Hi Mom and Dad," they both said. "How many smelling salts did we have to use?" Samuel asked us. "We used five. Thankfully we packed a lot," Skipper said. "How did Aunt Emily take the other world explanation?" Annabelle asked us. "That's when we used the smelling salts the most," I said chuckling.

"So does she like us?" Samuel asked. "Very much so. She thought that Pengotters were the coolest species. She also couldn't help but notice how much you two look and act like us," I said. They both smiled and then yawned. "That's good. But after that day of travelling and meeting new people, we're pretty tired even though it's only 9," Annabelle said.

"That's called jet lag. Your minds still think it's midnight, since New York is three hours ahead of Monterey. Don't worry as it'll only last a day or two," Skipper explained. We all yawned. "In fact, we might as well all go to bed. Let's go to our temporary home," I said. We all filed into my old cave, which was actually unoccupied by anyone. We all fell asleep in minutes, dreaming of the fun we would have here.

That's a wrap on this chapter. Cool, Marlene has a sister! She seems to act like Marlene, a bit. But she does have her own personality, which is really showing through. So do you like Emily, too? Also, I've introduced a paradox. Interesting. Please review this chapter. I've got a few notes today. See you in the next chapter.

* I have that same problem when I'm on a plane. It's really annoying. At least the kids only had to deal with it for a few minutes. Sometimes I've had to deal with it for hours.

** I took the same careful approach to Emily's name as I took for Annabelle and Samuel. I hope that seems evident. And Marlene is the older sister in this case, in case that was unclear. Also, you know how Marlene has a chestnut brown fur color? Emily is a darker shade of brown, more like a walnut color.


	10. Chapter 10 - The Day

Welcome to chapter 10. We're still at the aquarium. Let's explore that area and a bit more.

**CHAPTER 10 – The Day**

(P staying with Marlene) I yawned softly as I woke up. Looking around, I saw I was still at the aquarium. It felt great to be here again with Skipper, the kids, and the guys. It also felt great to see Emily after all these years. She seemed like she had grown up so much in the last six years.

A part of me felt sad that I had moved away from her and my parents, but another part of me felt happy, as I had married the love of my life and had children. Looking over at them again, Skipper and the kids looked so peaceful sleeping. It felt weird to be up first though, as Skipper and Samuel were usually up before either Annabelle or myself.

I decided to go for a quiet swim in the pool in the habitat to try and quietly practice for the crowds that would appear for as long as we were here. "It's too bad I can't be in any Internet popularity contests anymore though," I thought to myself. * Since that scandal all those years ago, I still couldn't win any awards.

Suddenly, I felt the water moving at me from behind, and it wasn't a current. I looked behind me to see who entered the water and it was Emily. She didn't seem to notice that I was also in the water though, which meant my stealth swimming training had paid off. I went up to the surface for some air and then sat on the cement to watch her practice, eager to see what she had planned for the guests.

She was being pretty quiet as well, but probably as to not wake anyone up either. She looked like she was having fun. I saw lots of moves similar to the ones I did. "She probably copied those from me all those years ago," I thought to myself happily. I also saw her do some unique flips and tumbles.

They looked like fun, so I made a mental note to ask her how to do those later. Suddenly, I saw her do the corkscrew in the water. She wasn't just swimming in a corkscrew fashion; it was a complete corkscrew like the one Skipper had taught us all. "Wow, where did she learn that?" I thought to myself. She stopped after that and came out of the water.

"Good morning Emily," I said to her. "Good morning sis. Did you just get out here?" she asked me. "I've been up for maybe a half hour or so. I saw you practice and you've totally impressed me," I said. Emily smiled. "Thanks. I gather you saw the corkscrew then?" she asked. "Yes. Where did you learn that?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. It just came to me one day. Want me to teach you how?" Emily asked me. I smirked. "Thank you for the offer, but Skipper already taught me how," I answered. We both chuckled softly. "Sounds like you have a great husband. If only I could be so lucky," she said a bit sad. "Don't worry, you'll find someone someday," I said, trying to cheer her up.

"Do you have any tips?" Emily asked eagerly. "I've pretty much got only one: Be patient. Believe me, I think Skipper and I wanted to tell each other how we felt almost as soon as I got there. But that other universe blocked us until we actually went there," I answered. "Thanks for the tip. I'm glad those people are done messing with our world. They are, right?" Emily asked.

"I think so. Skipper did make Matthew our head PR man. He's probably trying to help on that side of the Portal," I said. ** "Probably. I'd still like to go reveal myself there though," Emily said. "Well, after we get back and keep in contact with you, we'll try to figure out when would be a good time," I said. "Sounds like a plan sis," Emily said happily.

"Just one thing: Please don't tell my children about what caused me to no longer be able to enter Internet popularity contests," I said to her. "Oh you mean that?" Emily asked me with a smirk. I sighed. "Yes, I do. Please don't tell them," I said.

She thought for a moment. "Alright, I guess I won't. But Skipper knows right?" she asked. "Of course. We both don't keep secrets from each other," I said. "That sounds nice. I hope to have the same luck as you," Emily said. "I'm sure you will," I said.

"I wish I knew where Mom and Dad were though," Emily said sadly. "Did they get transferred like I did?" I asked her gently. Emily sighed sadly. "They were transferred somewhere two years ago," she said sadly, with tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm sorry you've been left alone Emily," I said to her, giving her a hug. My little sister hadn't seen anyone from our family in a long time. "I'm glad you're here Marlene," she said to me. "I'm glad that I'm here too," I said to her.

After continuing to chat for a few minutes, Skipper and the kids walked out and over to us. "Good morning everyone," I said to them. "Good morning honey," Skipper said to me. "Good morning Mom," the children said. "Good morning to you as well Emily," Skipper said to her. "And good morning to you Aunt Emily," both of the kids said to her. She smiled. "Good morning. It's cool to know I now have a brother-in-law and have a niece and nephew," Emily said.

They all smiled. "Thank you. It's nice to finally meet you," Skipper said to Emily. "It's nice to finally reunite with my family, which is obviously bigger now," she said. "And stranger," Samuel said.

We all chuckled softly. "Yes, it sure is," I said. "You two sure are interesting. I mean, Pengotters. The first cross mammal-bird species and I get to be your Aunt," Emily said happily.

"It's nice to have an Aunt. Especially one who understands that we can exist," Annabelle said. "You think there'd be any other type?" Emily asked knowingly. Smiles grew even bigger on the kids' faces. "I guess not. Thank you Aunt Emily," Samuel said happily. "You're very welcome, my little nephew and niece," Emily said.

"So how long ago did they merge the Penguin and Otter habitats sis?" I asked Emily. "I think it was three years ago. The Penguin habitat needed some repairs so they all came here. The humans must have noticed us interacting well together so they decided to just enlarge the habitat for both of us," Emily answered. "Interesting. But we can't say we're surprised," Skipper said. We all laughed softly, still not trying to wake anyone else up.

"Yes, you two did take it far further than the humans will ever know, at least here," Emily said. "Even though we only talked to the press there for only a little bit, it was fun to see them all shocked at everything," I said. "They'll really be shocked at us," Annabelle said. "Considering my reaction and yours Skipper, I'm sure they will," Emily said. We chuckled at the similarity between their reactions.

"So what is our schedule like here?" Skipper asked. "Well, we don't open until around 10 am to 6 pm *** and get fed at 11 AM and 3:30 PM," Emily answered. "Hmm, seems they've shortened the hours in the last few years," I said. "Yeah. But it's nice, we have more free time now," Emily said. "Sis, you don't know the true meaning of free time," I said smirking.

I looked over at Skipper, expecting to see to see some surprise at what I was revealing, but he was actually smirking as well, which surprised me a lot! The kids were smirking as well. "What do you mean?" Emily asked, curious. "Well, you did want to take us on a tour of the city. We'll tell you later when that happens," I said. "Hmm, alright then," Emily said, suspicious.

Shortly after that discussion, everyone else came out of their caves, including the guys. We all said good morning to each other and all planned our routine. The guys would perform with the other Penguins for the time being, and we would all perform together as a big family. (P to 10 AM)

It was finally time for the aquarium to open. The kids were really excited that we would all finally perform as a family, something we couldn't do at home. We were also excited that Emily would join us and before everyone had shown up taught us some of the moves she had learned over time.

Suddenly, the humans started filing into the room our area was in. Many of them looked confused at why our species were all together, which was really funny. "I guess they've never seen Penguins, Otters, and Pengotters together before," I said to everyone. "This happens whenever we're open. But it's still hilarious," Emily said. "It sure looks it," Annabelle said with a smile on her face.

Since our first meal wouldn't be until 11, we decided to just mill around and act like dumb animals. "It's fun being this coy," Annabelle said happily. "It sure is sweetie. We'll have to remember this for later. Of course, we'll need a third Otter," I said, directing that part at Emily. "Thanks sis," Emily said to me happily.

We all got ready to perform, as it got closer to our feeding time. Finally, after playing hard to get for a few moments, we began. First it was just Annabelle, Emily, and I doing dives and running around. Then Samuel and Skipper joined in.

The crowd looked pretty shocked at all of us interacting this way, at least from what I could see as we were performing. They were especially surprised when Skipper and I did the waving beak routine. We came close to kissing, but held back barely.

Finally, we all ran and slid up the rocks, jumped off them, and corkscrewed into the water. We got out and looked back at the crowd, who looked like they had enjoyed it. We would have bowed, except that to them, animals don't know what bowing is. ****

Suddenly a human came in, carrying a bucket, which probably had fish in it. All of us non-humans gathered around the person, hungry. "Well, they've all earned their meals right?" the person asked the crowd. I noticed that they had a microphone on, which meant there were speakers outside the habitat so they could talk to the guests. ***** We all got our meals and then just sat and swam casually around.

There was another human outside with a different kind of microphone, letting the guests ask questions. Some were general, like what our life spans are, where our species usually live, and so on. But someone did ask why we were all together.

"Well, a few years ago, there was some damage to the Penguin habitat, which used to be separated by a wall of glass. The glass was not broken though. We placed the Penguins here so they would be in a familiar area. But since these two species seem to get along, we just decided to get rid of the wall," the feeding human answered.

"So how did they all come up with what we just saw them do?" a guest asked. Obviously, they meant all of us. "We don't know. There is a lot we don't know about our fellow creatures," the feeder said. "That is just about the truest statement I've ever heard," Skipper said. To the human, Skipper was just making bird noises, whatever they sounded like, so the comment went unnoticed.

More questions were asked including one about the interaction Skipper and I had. "Could an Otter and Penguin ever have a baby?" a child asked. "I'm sorry to make you sad, but they cannot. A Penguin is a bird and an Otter is a mammal like us. There is no way," the feeder said. "And yet, there are two seven-month-old Pengotters right in your faces," Samuel said.

Once again, the comment went unnoticed. It took all our efforts to not laugh at the lie the feeder was saying. Both Samuel and Annabelle took a leap and landed in the water. After more questions and later performances, the aquarium was closed. "That was really fun!" Annabelle exclaimed. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. That was the most fun I've had in awhile," Emily said happily.

"It's still funny that we're right in their faces and yet the humans here think we're not possible," Samuel said smiling. "As long as they don't try to find out, they probably never will," I said. "Still not telling us mom?" Anna asked coyly. "Not yet. Sorry sweetie," I said to her, being coy right back.

"That was almost too close this morning though," Skipper said. "Yes honey. At least we can do it when they're gone," I said to Skipper before kissing him. "So where are your rings?" Emily asked.

"Rico, can we please have them?" I asked him. Rico let them go and Skipper and I caught them and placed them on our digit and flipper. "What a gorgeous diamond," Emily said, looking at my ring. "It took me forever to find and resize that," Skipper said proudly.

"It's the perfect size," I said to him, kissing him. "It really is gorgeous. I hope I get one like it some day," Emily said. "I'm sure you will sis," I said to her. She hugged me. "Thanks for the encouragement," Emily said. "You're welcome," I replied.

That's a wrap on this chapter. Did you like it? Do you still like Emily? Please rate and review this chapter. I've got a few notes today.

* Referencing "Tangled In The Web" where Marlene said to Julien she is out of competition for a scandal. We still don't know what that is, though.

** As revealed in Book 3, I am actually working hard right now (in the timeline) to wrangle control of their universe away from DreamWorks/Nick/Viacom to myself so nothing gets changed. If I could actually somehow get control, here in the real world, I'd immediately get a Skilene episode made.

*** That's actually the correct hours the Monterey Aquarium is open, according to their website. I don't know the specific feeding times, though, but this is their world so it doesn't matter.

**** Remember, those humans think everyone is just a normal animal, not smarter than the actual humans.

***** They do that in a lot of zoos and aquariums. If you've ever been to one, you've probably seen that.


	11. Chapter 11 - Stopwatch Time

Welcome to chapter 11. This story is fun, correct? Hopefully it is. So let's continue our story at the aquarium.

**CHAPTER 11 – Stopwatch Time**

(P staying with Marlene moving forward a few days) "Another fun day," Annabelle said happily to us all. The aquarium had just closed a few minutes ago. "Yeah, that was really great," Samuel agreed. "But we had another close call, didn't we Skipper?" I asked him. We both chuckled. "Yes, we did. I'm just glad the humans aren't getting suspicious," Skipper said.

"You two are so paranoid," Emily said to us jokingly. We smiled. "In this world, you have to be paranoid sometimes," I said. "I swear, you're always picking up more of my habits," Skipper said. "It just happens to two people who spend a lot of time together, I guess," I said happily, before Skipper and I kissed.

"So now what?" Samuel asked. "Well, you all did help me read better. Thanks to Mom and Dad, I started it, but I didn't finish until you returned Marlene," Emily said to me, with tears of loss forming.

Skipper, the kids, and I all gave Emily a family hug, showing her that we were here now. "Thank you," Emily said happily to us after we stopped hugging each other. "You're very welcome Aunt Emily," Annabelle said to her. For that, she received a messing up of the fur on the top of her head, making her giggle.

"Well as an idea, I can take you around town in a few hours, when the humans close up their stores and go home," Emily suggested. "Sounds like a plan. But we don't need to wait for the humans to leave," Skipper said. "We can just casually walk around them," I said. All of us knew what we were talking about.

"I guess it's time for you to show me what you meant by infinite free time isn't it?" Emily asked knowingly. "Yep. We did pack that, right Kowalski?" I asked him. "Yes, I believe so. Stopwatch please Rico," Kowalski said. Sure enough, we did pack the Stopwatch. "I know that it's 6:15. What does that do?" Emily asked, curious.

"Can we demonstrate it Mom and Dad?" Annabelle asked us. * "Sure honey. Just please, no jokes," Skipper said. The kids took the Stopwatch from Rico and got it ready. "Please place your paw on the Stopwatch Aunt Emily," Samuel asked her. She did. See you in a second," I said to them as they pressed the button. (P to Emily)

"Nothing happened," I said sadly. "Are you sure? Seems like it worked to me," Annabelle said. "Marlene, I don't think it worked," I said to my sister. I got no response. She just stood there, looking in our direction.

I walked over to her and waved my paw in her face and she continued standing there, unblinking. Suddenly I understood. "Oh, now I get it. It's called the Stopwatch because it stops time," I said.

"Yes, Aunt Emily. It's pretty cool. Mom and Dad said it came in handy for when we were born," Samuel said. ** "That's right, they did say that. It's a very cool invention. So what can we do when everything is like this?" I asked curiously.

"Pretty much anything. There's no humans or anyone to stop us," Annabelle said. "My sister and your father can't do anything either. I've got a plan before we bring them back," I said slyly. ***

"You and Mom sure are alike in a lot of ways. We heard Mom say almost the same thing a few weeks ago," Annabelle said. "It happens between siblings. I imagine you two have the same sort of thing," I said to them.

"Yes, Aunt Emily. We're both extremely curious. Didn't exactly go so great one time a few months ago," Samuel said. I chuckled. "I know, your parents told me. Well, it's alright as we're not cats," I said to them. We laughed.

"So what's your plan, Aunt Emily?" Annabelle asked me. "Well, there's no humans here anymore either. Let's make them kiss," I said, waving towards Marlene and Skipper. Annabelle and Samuel laughed. "Sounds like a great plan Aunt Emily," Samuel said. "Thank you. Let's do this, shall we?" I asked my nephew and niece.

"Lets," Annabelle agreed. We put Marlene and Skipper in a kissing position and closed their eyes so they wouldn't see what was happening when they woke up. We then returned to where we were standing before.

"So do I need to put my paw on the Stopwatch again?" I asked the children. "You're good, Aunt Emily," Annabelle said. "Thanks. Let's have some fun," I said. Annabelle was holding the Stopwatch and she pressed the button. (P to Marlene)

Suddenly, I couldn't see anything. I was giving a pretty good kiss to a beak as well. I assumed it was Skipper, as the beak did not pull away. We did pull away after a moment or so. "Well, that's always fun," I said happily. Everyone laughed. "Now which of you three did that?" Skipper asked, suspicious but obviously enjoying what had just happened.

"Aunt Emily," Annabelle and Samuel said, pointing to her. "Yes, it was me," Emily said, blushing. "Well thank you Emily. I've actually been wanting to do that all day," I said. "Me too," Skipper said agreeing. We all laughed again. "Time for your tour," Emily said. We all put our flippers and paws on the Stopwatch and pressed the button.

Sure enough as usual, time was stopped, except for us. "Where did you get such an idea for this anyway?" Emily asked us. We all looked at Kowalski. "I just thought of it one day," Kowalski said. "It's really good Kowalski. Just please don't let Julien ever get his hands on it again," I asked him. "I shall not," Kowalski replied.

We all started heading out. "What, you don't want gum in your fur sis?" Emily asked me coyly. **** "Trust me, it was a lot of gum. It took me two days to pick it all out," I said. "I believe you. I'm glad no one can throw things at us, since we're stopped by the glass," Emily said.

"It's too bad no one can throw popcorn at us though," Annabelle said sadly. "Popcorn?" Emily asked curiously. "Our habitat at home is open. Our zoo has a _do not feed the animals_ policy, but the humans violate it often," I said happily.

"I'll look forward to that, for when you help me get transferred eventually," Emily said happily. ***** "We'll make sure you can't get transferred unless a request comes from our zoo when we get back here," I said. Emily smiled. "Thanks. I'll look forward to spending more time with all of you," she said. We continued walking out, passing the other habitats until we reached the exit.

"You two can leave, right?" Emily asked Annabelle and Samuel. "Yes Aunt Emily," they answered. I reminded Emily as to how they can do that. She actually still remembered though.

"You two are lucky with being born outside the zoo," she said to the kids. "So what does feral mean?" Samuel asked. "You really don't want to know children. Trust me," I said. "I guess you nearly caused some damage too?" Emily asked me, whispering.

"Yeah. We had a couple of close calls. I owe it to Skipper for getting me back under control," I said whispering. "Was that before or after you finally started dating?" Emily asked me whispering. "It was a long time before. But it did help, I think," I said. "Too bad the other world blocked you two all those years," Emily said to Skipper and I, no longer whispering.

"In a way, it did help a bit, even though it delayed the both of us. Without that delay, we might have never found our way to that world. You two would not exist if we hadn't gone there," Skipper said to the kids. "Minor point to the delay," Annabelle said. "That's about the only good point, other than myself not going feral," I said. We opened the door and all walked out.

"Ah, nice clean air. No smog or smoke," I said. "And the smell of the ocean is great too," Samuel said happily. We all inhaled deeply, inhaling the smell of the ocean. But something else was in the air too. ******

"Does anyone else smell that?" I asked. "Smell what honey?" Skipper asked me. "I'm not sure. But it does smell familiar," I said. "Familiar as from here or New York?" Emily asked me. "I think New York, specifically in Central Park," I answered.

"We all enjoy those treats. Which one does it smell like to you Mom?" Annabelle asked. "It smells like three, actually. Hot dogs, pretzels, and," I said before pausing to sniff again. "Snow cones," I finished. "Hot snozzles," Samuel said happily. "I'll take point," I said. We all followed my nose and walked by many humans while heading to wherever the smell came from.

"This really is cool. That Stopwatch gives you so much freedom," Emily said happily. "It sure does. If we could make you another one, we probably would," I said. "Yes, but we don't have my entire lab, so for now you'll have to remain without it," Kowalski said. "That's too bad. I'll enjoy that device," Emily said happily.

After a few more minutes, we finally reached our destination. "We've got enough sardines right?" I asked. Kowalski calculated on his abacus the exchange rate between money and the sardines. "Yes, we've packed more than enough to get some," Kowalski answered. Rico released four cans of sardines, all sealed and then we all grabbed the different ingredients and went outside.

"These are really good," Emily said, happily eating her hot snozzle. "They're nothing like the ones back in New York though," I said. "Close, but it is off. How did you smell these all the way from the aquarium?" Skipper asked me.

"I have no idea. I must have some kind of snow cone sense," I suggested, blushing. "Whatever the reason is, these are really good. It's nice to take a break from fish," Emily said. "The keepers here are much more involved than back in New York," I said.

"Based off what you've said, they really seem that way," Emily said. "They sure are. Alice almost never notices us missing or acting, well, like humans," Skipper said. "She didn't even notice we were gone in the other world either time or that I was pregnant," I said. Emily laughed. "When I go to New York, I guess I'll be able to have more freedom," she said happily.

After we were done, Emily led us on a tour of Monterey. It was a really nice city. It had that small-town feel, without it being a small town. There were certainly a lot of shops, especially souvenir shops. After probably quite a few real-time hours, we all walked casually back into the aquarium and our habitat after we made it so that Emily wouldn't get transferred from here unless a request specifically came from our zoo.

"That was fun sis! Thanks for taking us around Monterey," I said to Emily. She smiled. "No problem. When I get to New York, be sure to take me on a tour there," Emily said. "No problem. We'll be able to get around a lot easier, thanks to the car," I said. "It's good we made it bigger," Samuel said. "Yes, we made it so you two could also ride in it, but made it so more people could ride in it if needed," I said.

We all yawned, really tired. Skipper, who had been wearing the Stopwatch, pressed the button, unpausing time. Rico swallowed the Stopwatch back up seconds later. "Well, let's all get rested for tomorrow," Skipper ordered us. We all said goodnight to each other and filed into our caves, going to sleep.

That's a wrap on this chapter. I thought it was fun. Do you still like Emily? Please rate and review this chapter. I've got a few notes.

* That whole scenario just came to me. Gotta love when that happens, though.

** Referencing the final chapter of _Pengotter Pregnancy_, where Skipper and Marlene used the Stopwatch to have the kids in the park to get the kids to not go feral ever. Now there are two people who can go feral though.

*** Some siblings have similar behaviors. And this was funny. It developed Emily more as well. Besides, Marlene and Emily did, according to them, get into trouble sometimes as kids.

**** Referencing "It's About Time" somewhat. We still don't know what happened to Marlene, but based on how much gum Julien stuck to everything, Marlene was probably covered in some as well.

***** Yep, you read that right. I will be moving Emily over to New York and into the story permanently. But not yet, as the events of Book 3 are still a few months out. Maybe in Book 4, though.

****** Another idea that just came to me. Maybe I'm referencing "King Julien For A Day" and/or _Pengotter Pregnancy_ when Marlene smelled and desired the cotton candy? Probably. But I'm not exactly sure.

Bonus: Next chapter is a bit of a doozy. Prepare yourselves. That's all I'm saying.


	12. Chapter 12 - A Prophecy

Welcome to chapter 12! *prepares for incoming "What the sugarplums?!"*

**CHAPTER 12 – A Prophecy**

We all knew we eventually had to move on, but it was so hard to pick where to go. We had managed to get Emily a method to contact us through the Internet that the humans would not notice was there. We had to use the Stopwatch again for that, because it would have taken too long otherwise.

A few more days had passed since then, and we had practiced with the computer from the aquarium and our phones and it worked. The computer was luckily the newest one out, as we had checked, which meant we wouldn't have a problem contacting Emily since it wouldn't be replaced. We gave her the numbers for the phones though, just in case. We also trained Emily to be able to defend herself, if needed. She did really well, like all of us did our first time.

Last night, we had picked another place to go see. After our performances today, we would be transferred tomorrow. Thankfully, we didn't let that get us down. We performed better than we had the whole time we were here. It was starting to get late, so everyone except Skipper, Emily, and I had gone to sleep.

"I'll really miss you sis, even if it is only for a short time this time," I said. "I'll miss you guys too. I'm so glad you've all helped me learn so much while you were here. And now I know I'm an Aunt!" Emily exclaimed happily, yet quietly.

"I'm glad you like the children. They sure are an interesting breed," Skipper said. We laughed quietly. "They sure are. They do take after you a lot. I hope I can be as lucky someday," Emily said. "Well, if you find someone before we get you transferred, we'll get them too, of course," I said.

Emily smiled. "Thanks. I really should try harder. Maybe in a few days, I could start looking. Thanks for the tip sis," she said. "No problem. It worked for us, it should be the same for you," I said.

"But you don't have the problem of being controlled, so it probably won't take you four years to actually be a couple," Skipper said. "I'm glad I don't have that problem. But you did get your children out of it," Emily said. We smiled. "Yes, we did," I said happily.

Suddenly, the lights flickered on and off rapidly, like lightning. "They need to fix that," I said. "They probably will within a few days," Skipper said. Suddenly, the speakers outside started going off very loud and made our entire habitat vibrate as if it were surrounded by lightning strikes.

"This is too weird," I said. "Something's up here," Skipper said. The three of us got into fighting stances; ready to defend ourselves and everyone else. Suddenly, like when the Golden Squirrel escapade happened, an old Otter appeared a few feet in front of us.

"Now who are you and what do you want?" Skipper asked the Otter. "My name is unimportant. But I do have something to say," the Otter replied. "About what?" I asked. "You," the Otter said, pointing at Emily. "Me?" she asked curiously.

"Yes. I've come to tell you about your future," the Otter replied. "If it's bad, I don't want to hear it," Emily said. "It's good. I'm actually the one who told your parents about your future," the Otter said to me. We all lowered our fighting stances slightly. "Really?" I asked. "Yes. Only you three get to learn this, as your mates are cross-species," the Otter responded.

"I don't have a mate," Emily said. "You have not met them yet. You will meet them before a holiday in the summer," the Otter said. "Here or in New York?" Emily asked. "New York. They are a mammal, but not an Otter. They just won your permanent independence recently. They shall fight for it again, with your children," the Otter said to Skipper and I.

"When that happens, that's the moment when you'll know who is your future mate. And that will be when it is time for you to relocate," the Otter said to Emily. "How can we be sure?" I asked. "You will be sure. But this information shall never be spread to more people than you three until the day you get a ring," the Otter said to Emily.

"One final thing: Your mate does not know about this prophecy. Only you three do. And that is where I leave you," the Otter said before disappearing. We just stood there, trying to comprehend what just happened.

We waited for anyone else to maybe come out after hearing what had just happened, but no one did. I looked over at Emily and her face was in an expression of anticipation, but also one of fear.

None of us knew what to say. I instead walked over to her and placed my arm around her, trying to help her relax. She leaned into me as if I was our mother, not her sister. I patted her back, continuing to try and help her relax. She stood up after a moment. "Thank you Marlene. I needed that," Emily said. "You're welcome Emily," I said to her. "What… just… happened?" Emily asked.

"I… don't know," I said honestly. We all thought for a moment. "Do you have any idea who my… mate… will be?" Emily asked us. "I'm sorry sis, but I don't," I said honestly. Emily looked over at Skipper. "I'm sorry Emily, but I don't know either," he said. "What did she mean by my… mate… fighting for our independence? And they're going to do it a second time with Annabelle and Samuel?" Emily asked.

"We don't know," I said. "Well, that means my… mate… cares for us all. That sounds good. But I still want to know what she meant by all of those dates. A summer holiday? Which one? Flag Day? Independence Day? Labor Day?" Emily asked us. "Many humans count Independence Day as the main summer holiday," Skipper answered. "It's February right now. I have five months. Wow," Emily said.

"But nothing is set in stone. You can avoid it. And since your… mate… doesn't know about this, you would not hurt him by refusing," I said. Emily thought for a moment. "Yes, but I can sense that even if that Otter hadn't told us what my future is that it would have happened anyway," Emily said. "Are you sure?" Skipper and I asked her. "Yes. I think I am. Please remember to tell me the moment you think my mate has been revealed," Emily said.

"We'll be sure to keep you informed constantly of what we think before and when it happens," Skipper said. Emily smiled. "Thank you. These next five months or so will be interesting. But I will enjoy my last few months here," Emily said. "I hope you will," I said. We all yawned. "And with that prophecy told, let's go to bed," Emily said. We chuckled a bit before heading to our caves.

* "Do you think he could be the one she'll get?" I asked Skipper. "You mean him?" Skipper asked me knowingly. "Yes, him. Our friend from over there," I said. "Marlene, I think you might have a point there. That is an interesting possibility. It would be interesting if that were the case," Skipper said. "I know. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" I asked. "Yes, we will Marlene," Skipper replied. With that, we walked into our cave and fell asleep.

(P to Emily as she walked to her cave) I was still wondering about what just happened and the future. I mean, it's not every day some Otter comes along and tells you what is effectively your destiny. "I'm going to meet my mate in a few short months. I don't know anything about them though. But if they will fight for all of our independence, then it means they care," I thought to myself.

"They're a mammal, but not an Otter. What kind of mammal? There's too many to even guess. I guess I'll find out in five months though," I continued thinking. I yawned once again as I entered my cave. It took a few minutes, but I was able to get to sleep and dreamt of what and who my mate would be.

That's a wrap on this chapter. Now who could possibly wind up being Emily's mate? Ah, I won't tell you yet. But I can't believe I just did that. But it's my story, so I guess I can. Was this a good chapter though? Please review it. Let's look the single note I have, shall we?

* I was being vague on purpose. But if you somehow manage to figure it out, more power to you. Won't tell you if you got it right or wrong though.


	13. Chapter 13 - A Temporary Goodbye

Welcome to the 13th chapter of this story. The last one was a bit wild, wasn't it? I actually didn't expect your reactions to go the way they did. Thanks! Let's go to the day after, shall we?

**CHAPTER 13 – A Temporary Goodbye**

(P going back to Marlene) I woke up to someone kissing me. I immediately knew it was Skipper, so I began kissing him back. "Good morning Skipper," I said to him after opening my eyes. "Good morning Marlene," he said to me. Further back in the cave, Annabelle and Samuel were still peacefully sleeping.

"They're so adorable, aren't they?" I whispered to Skipper, to not wake them up. "They sure are. They must have gotten that from you," Skipper said. "Well, if that's true, then they got their cuteness from you," I said to him. We kissed again.

"You really think that he might be the one?" Skipper asked, returning our attention to last night. "I think so. But I do wonder how our children will factor into that," I said. "I wish that Otter had given us a few more details before vanishing," Skipper said. "Me too. We'll have to try and keep a close eye on the kids whenever we either go there or if he comes here," I said. "I concur," Skipper said.

With that, we walked out of the cave. We saw Emily practicing in the pool for later today. It made both of us sad that we wouldn't see Emily for a few months after today. But at least this time when an Otter was moved to New York, it would be her and we would be a full family. And even bigger, whenever her prophecy came true in the next few months.

She jumped out of the water and shook it off her fur. "Good morning," Emily said to us. "Good morning sis," we both replied. She chuckled. "That's still a bit odd," she said. We both knew she meant, so Skipper and I chuckled as well. "We know. But you've got someone interesting in your future as well," Skipper replied.

"Yeah. A mammal, but not an Otter. There's too many mammals to even try and guess," Emily said. "As long as it's not a lemur, then we're all for it," I said. "After you told me how this Julien person acts, I really hope it's not him. But based on the way you told me how he doesn't really do anything, then it's probably not him," Emily said happily.

"Well, when we find your mate, we'll immediately let you know," Skipper said. Emily smiled. "I'm looking forward to that day. But it's certainly going to be weird to explain to them what happened last night," Emily said. "We'll certainly try to help you with that," I said. Just then, the kids woke up and started coming over to us, so we ended that talk.

"Good morning Mom and Dad. And you too, Aunt Emily," they both said to us. "Good morning," we all said to them. "So what were you talking about?" Annabelle asked us. "Classified," we replied. "It was about us, wasn't it?" Samuel asked. "You could say that," Emily said. "One of these days you'll have to tell us how we're possible," Annabelle said. "Well for now, think of it as a fun mystery," I said to them.

"We'll really miss you Aunt Emily," Samuel said. "I'll miss you two as well. You're certainly an interesting nephew and niece to have," Emily said to them. They both smiled. "Yep. Pengotters. Still the coolest species," Samuel said cheerfully. "Yes, you certainly are, Emily said to them, kissing their foreheads. That made them giggle.

"So where are you headed next?" Emily asked us. "Well, first we're going to hija… borrow the truck to go to see if there is a version of Matthew's town up north. Then we'll be going up to Seattle," Skipper said.

"Seattle sounds fun. I've heard of some of the humans asking talking about their home cities. I heard something about five Penguins and two Otters in New York a few weeks ago. I never knew that was you guys all along," Emily said happily. "Sounds like people like us long after they're gone," Annabelle said happily. "They sure do, if they're still talking about you all the way over here," Emily said, agreeing with her.

"And maybe it could be three Otters eventually sis," I said to her. Skipper, Emily, and I knew what that meant of course. "That'd be fun. Then we could be together again," Samuel said happily.

"That'd be great! Do you think you could ever get me transferred there?" Emily asked us. "Most likely. All we have to do is get into the transfer system and get you moved to New York," Skipper answered. "Great! Just do it when you know that it's a good time," Emily said. Skipper and I knew what she meant. "We will sis," I said to her.

Everyone else came out of the caves. We all said good morning to each other. After talking for a few minutes, we saw two crates being carried and knew that they were for us. "We'll see you soon," I whispered to Emily, while hugging her.

"Just make sure to keep me informed," she whispered back. Skipper and the kids also hugged her before the humans collected us. "Goodbye sis," I said to her as I was put into the crate. "Goodbye Marlene," she said to me.

Like last time, Skipper, the kids, and I were all put into one crate and the guys in another. As we were being carried out, we heard some humans talking. "Did some of the Penguins hug an Otter?" one of them asked another.

The other human laughed. "You must be out of your mind. That's about as far-fetched as a Penguin and Otter having offspring," they said. We would have snickered, but the humans might have gotten suspicious of the noises we were making.

Like last time, we were put into a truck and were heading up to the airport. When we got into the Bay Area, we borrowed the truck and directed it to see if Matthew's hometown existed in our world. It did, but as far as we could tell, some stuff was the same, while others were not. We then drove back to the Airport and put ourselves back into the crates. We then got loaded into an airplane and were sent on our way up to Seattle.

(P to Samuel the first day of Book 3) "So did we do good Dad?" Anna asked Dad. "Yes, you both did well, as usual," Mom answered. That made us smile. "Thanks Mom and Dad," Anna and I said, giving them hugs. The training ended and I decided to go below to just grab a fish to eat. As I was walking past Kowalski's lab, I heard a ringing sound.

"Curse my curiosity," I thought to myself as I opened the lab. One of Kowalski's inventions was doing the ringing. Suddenly, a voice came out of it. "Hello? Is anyone there?" the voice asked. I picked up the device. "Now which one of Kowalski's inventions are you?" I asked it. "There actually is someone on the other end of this phone you know," the voice replied.

(P to Annabelle) After swimming for a minute, I went down below to grab a fish. I then heard Sam talking to something in Kowalski's lab. I wondered what he was doing, so I also went in. "The only phones I know of are the ones my parents and their friends have, along with the humans," Sam said.

I knew Mom and Dad had told us not to touch any of Kowalski's inventions, especially after the problem with Blowhole's Segway, so I spoke up. "What are you doing Sam?" I asked him. "Quiet Anna, I'm trying to figure out what this is," he said to me. He must have forgotten what Mom and Dad said, so I reminded him.

"You know Mom and Dad said to never touch Kowalski's inventions," I said. In order to make him stop I also fibbed something. Well, not entirely. "Besides they left me in charge because I'm older so I'm ordering you to put that down," I said. As I said that, I realized how much fun Mom and Dad have doing that to us.

"You're only a few minutes older than me," he said to me. "Yes, but that gives me an advantage over you, so I'm still ordering you to put that device down," I said. I really liked doing this until Dad dropped down. "What are you two doing?" he asked us. "This device started speaking to me, so I started talking back," Sam answered.

"Let me have it. It's only the Universal Walkie Talkie. I guess we forgot to tell you about this invention. Now go and help your mother clean up," Dad said to us. Sam handed the invention to Dad and we headed up to the platform.

"So what do you need help cleaning up Mom?" I asked her. "What do you mean?" she asked us. "You didn't put Anna into charge just before she came down right?" Sam asked Mom. "No. Why?" she asked us. "I knew you were fibbing," Sam said to me. "Hey, it worked," I said happily, smirking. "Now why did you act like you were in charge sweetie?" Mom asked me.

Just as we were about to explain, Dad came back up. "Change of plans for today everyone," he said. "What do you mean?" Sam and I asked him. "Apparently in his world, Matthew has had a PR problem since we were last there, so he's taking a vacation here," Dad explained.

"Oh, we haven't seen Matthew in a year!" Mom exclaimed happily. "So is this the Matthew that helped you marry each other?" I asked Mom and Dad. "Yes. Now we need to make sure he's been keeping up on the training we gave him, so you get to use that today," Dad said to us.

"Kowalski, get some tennis balls and your Transmatterer. We'll pelt him with some and then try to push him into the water," Dad said to us all. We all got the tennis balls and used Kowalski's Transmatterer to make us invisible. "This is so cool!" Sam exclaimed as we climbed back up.

Just before we reached the top, Dad went into the lab pushed a button on the Universal Walkie Talkie and pressed the alarm button to count down for a minute until it rang. Some weird pink glow came from the HQ as we all hid on the lampposts.

And now, we're back in the timeline at the beginning of Book 3. And don't worry; this isn't the last of Emily at all. Not by a long shot. Go to the epilogue for details. I have no notes today.


	14. Chapter 14 - Epilogue

Welcome to the epilogue for _Pengotters: The Early Months._ I hope you enjoyed this story as much as you did _Pengotter Pregnancy_ preceding it. I hope the stories were a nice break from the In Our World series of books. They really were fun to make. So let's go over plot points from this story, shall we?

So, obviously, in some chapters, I skipped a lot of time. In the early chapters, that was because the kids were just getting used to the world. There wasn't much I could do with them there. But they were still nice chapters, right? Oh, so the reason I skipped from leaving the aquarium to Book 3 was because nothing was going to happen on their vacation, other than them having fun and exploring where they were.

So I really hinted at a lot of these stories in Book 3, didn't I? The threatening of a transfer, Julien getting a head start on April Fools, and the kids asking lots of questions as to how they were possible. Of course, they learned how in Book 3. Now let's get to Emily, shall we?

So I was going to send them all to the aquarium, that was unchanged. But I was also going to have Marlene's parents also still be at the aquarium, but realized maybe that was too hard to write more OC's. But, I did keep Emily. It sounds like the sisters still share a bond after all those years.

Now let's get to something that might have thrown you off. First of all, even I still can't believe I did that to them. I swear, my brain just wants to use some strange things. So, yeah, a prophecy. That wasn't my original goal at all with Emily. I was going to have her moved to the zoo eventually, but again, my brain does some weird stuff sometimes.

Now, Emily will be coming back very soon, rest assured. Of course, did I make her have a choice? I did, but she still wants to know who her mate will be. If you've figured that out, my hat is off to you. I actually didn't expect your reactions.

I expected utter shock and confusion at the massive curveball I threw. Thanks for doing the opposite of what I expected you all to do. And now I can finally release the other stories in my vault, since they have Emily in them.

But let's get back to the present day, shall we? In one week, I shall be releasing Book 4 after all this time. Yep, we're back to the one-week gap between stories. But this one's a really good Blowhole as a villain story, I think. Here's my reveal of the plot!

_Blowhole returns and for some reason, everything is changed, including the timeline. The team is all scattered and nothing is the same. We must embark on a journey to turn everything back to normal. Can we do it?_

So we're going to have to fix whatever mess Blowhole made. For the record, I was writing both this and Book 4 at essentially the same time. I started with 4, actually. But then that is where I got the idea for the Pengotter stories.

So to wrap up, I hope you enjoyed these two stories! They were totally in canon with my timeline. I hope they provided you some nice backstory on the kids and developed all the characters more. I'd like to thank each and every one of you who left a review or just viewed the stories. It's people like you who help me to keep going with this! Thank you, and I'll see you in a week for Book 4 (April 23rd)!

Day Planning Began: October 7th, 2013

Finishing Date: October 16th, 2013 (with minor improvements before publication, of course)


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